ALL THE WAY
by jasmine105
Summary: Story takes up where "Wee Small Hours" and "You Go To My Head" leave off. Romantic story concerning Lauren & Horatio, a romance with a crime involving Lauren's boss' office, the Mayor of Miami. Hope you enjoy! Still new to writing; pls be kind!
1. Chapter 1

When somebody loves you  
><em>It's no good unless he loves you - all the way<em>  
><em>Happy to be near you<em>  
><em>When you need someone to cheer you - all the way<em>

_When somebody needs you_  
><em>It's no good unless he needs you - all the way<em>  
><em>Through the good or lean years<em>  
><em>And for all the in between years - come what may<em>

_Who knows where the road will lead us_  
><em>Only a fool would say<em>  
><em>But if you'll let me love you<em>  
><em>It's for sure I'm gonna love you - all the way<em>  
><em>All the way<em>  
><em>Frank Sinatra Song<em>

**ALL THE WAY**

Chapter One

The intrusive sun worked its way into Lauren Chambers' bedroom, lazily encouraging the man and woman sleeping in the bed to wake and greet the early afternoon. Lauren continued sleeping, but Horatio Caine slowly opened his eyes. Turning his head, he saw Lauren laying next to him, on her stomach, with one slender arm thrown carelessly across his waist, and her tousled blond waves obscuring all but her closed eyes. Horatio noted that the crumpled lavender sheet had shifted haphazardly around her hips and across her pretty derrière, and he had a sudden, almost irrisistable, urge to shove it aside completely - an urge he checked for the moment. Horatio grinned inwardly: she looked like a child, a wanton child, resting there so peacefully now that her desires had been met. Smiling, and stretching his body with satisfaction, Horatio admitted to himself that he also was feeling rather peaceful and rested after the morning the two had shared.

His mind wandered back to the events that had occurred earlier in the day. After a night of soul-searching the evening before and an odd but strangely freeing dream, Horatio had sent a text message to Lauren before the dawn's first light, asking her to call him. Even now he felt a pang of remorse as he remembered the uncertainty in her voice when she did.

**XXXXX**

_Horatio heard his phone buzz while he was drinking his coffee and worrying that perhaps Lauren, with good cause, would refuse to respond to his message. Perhaps she had given up on him, decided he was too much work and too much trouble. The beautiful younger woman could easily find a man with less emotional baggage to share her heart with. Quickly reaching for the buzzing phone and seeing it was the number he'd hoped for, Horatio exclaimed, "Lauren, sweetheart."_

_He noticed a momentary hesitation in her voice. "Hi... I... just saw your text... "_

_Hearing the soft voice and its tone of vulnerability and knowing he was the cause, Horatio wanted to be there with her, talking to her face to face, not over the air waves. "Lauren... I, um... I'd like to come over... now... if you'll let me." The lack of response from Lauren alarmed Horatio, and with a deep voice he said urgently, "Sweetheart, we need to talk. Now."_

_Holding his breath, he was relieved when she finally agreed to see him. Horatio had quickly gotten himself together and drove to Lauren's place where she opened the door, still dressed in her bed clothes - pale blue, soft cotton pajamas._

_With her face stripped of make-up and her waist-length blond waves tumbling about her neck and shoulders, all Horatio could think of was how much he wanted to reach out and gently pull her into his arms and tell her he was sorry for being such a blockhead and causing her such unhappiness. He entered the room and closed the door behind him and stood there for a moment, leaning against the door, wondering how to begin now that he was actually facing her. Lauren stood across from Horatio, looking at him mutely. Her light gray eyes were wary and her posture one of both apprehension and hope. When Horatio seemed to be incapable of either speech or action, Lauren seemed to come to a decision and she abruptly lifted her hand to his cheek. She lightly caressed his face, saying with a catch in her voice, "Sweet Horatio... how terribly I have missed you these past few weeks."_

_That was all it took to free Horatio from his frozen state, and he quickly moved toward Lauren, enfolding her in his arms. "Lauren, Lauren... Lauren," his deep, expressive voice whispered into her hair, "I don't want to lose what we had. I am sorry for... being so cold... can you forgive me? It wasn't that I wanted to hurt you. I've never wanted to hurt you."_

_"I know," she said simply. "I know." Lauren pulled back just far enough to look up at Horatio. "I love you, Horatio."_

_Meeting her gaze squarely, Horatio tenderly took her face in both his hands and replied, "And I love you, Lauren," and he kissed her - a kiss that started out gentle but quickly became something else as his hands began to move to the back of her neck and shoulders. Horatio tried to put all his remorse and love into that kiss, hoping to say without words what was in his heart._

_Finally, Lauren broke away and grinned. "Now THAT, Lieutenant, was a MUCH better answer than the last time!"_

_Smiling at his lovely girl, Horatio lightly replied, "I've heard it said that 'practice makes perfect.' "_

_"Hmm... well, I guess I will have to give you ample opportunities for practice. But for now, let me make some coffee. You're right - we do have things to talk about, the most important being why you can now say these words when a few weeks ago, you couldn't."_

**xxxxx**

"Penny for your thoughts, Officer." Horatio was pulled back into the present by Lauren's teasing voice. Looking her way, he saw the laughing gray eyes peeking out from their hiding place behind the blond waves. "Having second thoughts?" While she spoke teasingly, Horatio sensed that beneath the light-hearted banter, Lauren was still a bit uncertain that he wasn't going to change his mind and regret having told her that he loved her.

Smiling, he reached out to smooth the wayward locks from her face. "Nope - no second thoughts, no uncertainty, no regrets. I'm in this all the way, sweetheart."

Horatio leaned forward, gently urged her body toward his and kissed her soundly, putting Lauren's fears to rest. When the kiss ended, her face was bright with warmth and she said feelingly, "'All the way,' Horatio ... just like the song?"

"Yes ma'am, just like the song," and leaning forward once again to kiss her, Horatio finally gave in to the urge to push away the teasing, bothersome sheet from Lauren's body.

**XXXXX**

Some time later, Lauren listened to the sound of Horatio showering as she languidly raised her arms above her head and yawned with satisfaction. Reaching for her robe on the chair near the nightstand, she pulled it to her and rose from the bed, putting it on. She walked over to her bureau and looked at her reflection in the mirror as she hastily grabbed her hairbrush and ran it through her hair. The reflection before her smiled back at her, the gray eyes snapping with happy energy and the reddened lips slightly swollen from passionate kisses. _Not a bad way to spend a Saturday_, thought Lauren. Thinking she would have to discuss dinner with Horatio, she wandered into the living room on her way to the kitchen when her eyes chanced upon the two mugs sitting on the coffee table across from the sofa, still half-filled with the stale, cold coffee. The sight of the abandoned coffee mugs steered Lauren's attention from thoughts of dinner, and she sat down on the sofa, remembering her earlier conversation with Horatio and how it had led from this sofa into her bedroom.

_To be continued._


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

Lauren smiled, remembering the conversation with Horatio after he'd come to her door that morning and admitted he loved her.

XXXXX

**Lauren carried two mugs into the living room and sat them on the table in front of the sofa where Horatio was sitting. Looking at him, Lauren was struck by how tired he looked and the puffiness under his eyes. Her heart went out to him because it was plain to Lauren that the last few weeks had been as difficult for Horatio as they had been for her. Longing to reach out and touch his dear face, Lauren restrained herself. **_**Why does he make things so difficult? **_**she wondered.**

**She watched him take a drink from the mug of coffee and set it back down. He looked at Lauren and smiled, but then lowered his head and, elbows on his knees, let his hands dangle between them as he tried to figure out what he wanted to say.**

**Taking pity on him, Lauren reached out and gently caressed the back of his neck, causing him to tilt his head and look up at her. "Hey, Honey," she said softly, "I'm so happy that you sent me that message and came over to see me first thing this morning. I had... pretty much convinced myself I was never going to hear from you again. Last night was a pretty terrible night for me. I... wanted you so badly."**

**Sometimes when Horatio Caine smiled, one could get a glimpse of the sweet young boy he must have been, and this was one of those times. He looked at Lauren with a sort of shy delight that she had experienced much the same discomfort the night before as he had - for truly, in his heart, Horatio had feared she might have begun the process of moving on. That sweet, tender smile that he seemed to reserve for those who touched him in some special way now suffused his face, and Lauren loved him all the more looking at it. Boxes, she thought... when I see him smile like this, I feel like I am unwrapping another of those hidden Horatio "boxes."**

**Reaching for her hand, Horatio held it in both of his, cleared his throat, and began speaking. "Lauren, after Marisol died, something inside of me... turned hard. When I lost her, I lost myself for awhile. ...I think I'm still trying to find my way back, even now. Her death was so sudden, so unexpected.**

**"It closed something off in me. When she left, with her went a part of me that believed it was possible to share my life with someone... that I could be happy. Actually, I lost the belief that anyone could be happy, not just me."**

**Horatio paused. "Happy," he repeated the word, quietly, as if to himself. "I didn't trust that emotion.**

**"I've known several women that I enjoyed spending time with and... perhaps... had thought I could develop a relationship with... but something always went wrong. I lost interest, or they had careers that were more important to them, or they had other emotional attachments. For one reason or another, it just never worked.**

**"When Mari came along, it was different. She loved me and she needed me. I, um... well, I was pretty much her world. And it was very... appealing... to be needed and wanted. And, you know, I admired her, too. She was young and she struggled so against the cancer. She was so loving... and such a fighter. And most of the time, so optimistic.**

**"When she told me she wanted to have a baby, she seemed so lost and sad... as if that would never happen. Lauren, I wanted that for her so much!"**

**Listening, Lauren watched him lower his head, as if he were suddenly contemplating the hand he held in both of his. Loving him, Lauren understood he needed to tell her these things, so she squeezed his hand, tenderly saying, "Marisol was dealt a bad hand when it came to her health, Horatio, but how it must have comforted her to realize how much you loved her!"**

**Horatio smiled gratefully. "I did love her. More than her family or our friends realized. But Marisol knew. She had a way of seeing inside of me." He looked up at Lauren and gazed at her intently. "You have that... ability... as well. Sometimes, Lauren, I have the sense that you are seeing more of me than I want to share. It's... disconcerting... at times."**

**Suddenly his face darkened. "When Marisol was dying, she... she told me not to be sad." Letting go of Lauren's hand, Horatio stood up and began to slowly walk about the room, without purpose. "She was dying, Lauren, and her last thoughts were for me. She wasn't bitter, she wasn't angry... she looked at me and just said, 'Don't be sad.'"**

**When Horatio seemed unable to speak for a few minutes, Lauren softly said, "She loved you, Horatio. Absolutely and truly. You once told me that Marisol had the heart of a lion. Only a strong, loving person would be so giving in her last moments. She wanted to give you the gift of life when she asked you not to be sad. She wanted you to go on and try to be happy. She knew how much you loved her, and freeing you from life-long grief was her way of returning that love."**

**When Horatio still remained silent, Lauren remembered something her grandmother taught her. "When I was a little girl, Horatio, I used to go to church with my grandmother. Now, my grandmother was a great lady in every sense of the word. In some ways, she was much like your Marisol. I always 'rested' in the security of her love. It was my touchstone... still is, even now that she is gone. My grandmother's favorite passage from the Bible is a very famous one, and one that she lived her life by, and tried to drum into the heads of me and my sisters. It's called the Love Chapter in the Bible, and it's from one of Saint Paul's letters to the Corinthians. It speaks of the many qualities of real love, but the qualities that most remind me of your Marisol are these: 'Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.'**

**"Marisol loved you - she trusted you, she had great hopes for her future with you. And she persevered, in spite of family objections and illness. And when she was dying, her love for you still persevered and never failed for she loved you in the truest sense of the word - she wanted you not to be weighed down with sadness, but to go on. She really did have the heart of a lion.**

**"Honey, you need to take heart and live up to her love and her courage and make a new life for yourself. And, Horatio, if you'll let me, I will help you build that life. It's my heart's desire."**

**Horatio rapidly walked back to where Lauren was sitting and knelt before her. "I want that, too, sweetheart. When you said you loved me, I think I understood for the first time that I could no longer pretend that what we had was a casual thing. And it... frightened me."**

**"Why were you frightened, honey?"**

**Horatio looked at Lauren earnestly as he tried to put his jumbled thoughts in order. "I think... that... I am afraid to risk loving someone as completely as I loved Mari... and then... losing her. I do love you, Lauren, but it scares me to say it."**

**Almost to himself, he added, "It is easier to love a dead woman than risk loving and again losing someone who means so much to me."**

**"Horatio, I am not going anywhere! Honey, you can't live your life afraid of losing the people you love."**

**"But... there have been so many," he said sadly. Horatio stood up and sat down next to her on the sofa. "I meant to keep you at a distance, not acknowledge your importance... I didn't want to be open again to... any of that."**

**"And yet, here you are."**

**"Yes," he agreed, "here I am."**

**Lauren leaned forward and gently kissed him. She longed to take away his unhappy memories and replace them with good ones. "Well," she said lightly, "I am very glad you're here, Lieutenant, and I promise you that I am not going anywhere, okay? Horatio, one more thing, and then let's put these fears and worries away, okay?"**

**Looking at her, Horatio nodded his head.**

**"What changed your mind? What finally gave you the courage to contact me?"**

**It seemed to Lauren that Horatio underwent a brief struggle with himself as to what he wanted to say to her. Finally he replied, "My heart and mind ganged up on me and... forced me to understand it was time to let the past with Mari be that - the past. It was odd... I had a... dream... and it became so clear I had to leave Mari behind and once again... join the living."**

**"Would you like to tell me about the dream?"**

**Horatio thought for a moment and suddenly smiled. "No, I don't think so. It was something for me... to understand. And, I think I do.**

**"I also think that I'd very much like to kiss you again... if you haven't given up on me yet."**

**At that point, Horatio stood up and pulled Lauren into his arms. As he leaned in to kiss her, he whispered with a full throat, "I love you, Miss Chambers," and then began to convince her with his mouth and hands that it was so.**

XXXXX

Fully dressed now, Horatio walked into the living room and saw that Lauren was deep in thought. "Hey, beautiful, don't you think it's time to get dressed?"

Lauren flashed the knock-out smile that Horatio had found so beguiling the first time he'd met her. "I was just trying to figure out what to make for dinner. Bet you're hungry, huh?"

"I am," he said, "so get dressed, sweetheart, and let's go out to eat. I think we're due for a bit of celebration, don't you?"

Grinning as she went to shower and dress, Lauren had to agree. Things were certainly looking up.

_To be continued._


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

_A few months later..._

Horatio was watching television in the lab's break room as he drank coffee and ate a hurried sandwich. Lauren had given him a heads-up earlier in the day that her boss, Mayor Jack O'Reilly, was holding a press conference at 12:30 p.m. Apparently the Mayor was going to make a big announcement, and local television and radio stations would be carrying it. For the last couple of weeks, Lauren had been working longer hours and seemed energized by some development she seemed unwilling or unable to share with him. When he pressed her, she said she could not discuss anything at the present time, but would explain as soon as she was at liberty to do so. Horatio let it go; he knew she loved her position with the Mayor's office, and it was unfair of him to pressure her into divulging something that was not yet public knowledge.

Evidently, that was about to change since she begged him to try to catch the press conference today. Hearing the barely suppressed excitement in her voice, he had promised that if possible, he would try to watch. Groaning inwardly, Horatio imagined that sitting in a dentist's chair while awaiting a root canal was comparable to watching that peacock, O'Reilly, preen for the cameras and list his 'mighty' accomplishments.

Horatio had little use for politicians in general and even less for the Mayor. The MDPD had been forced to make several costly concessions thanks to the Mayor's zeal for cost-cutting, and those concessions meant fewer officers in the field, cutbacks in funding for new lab equipment, and additional overtime for an already overworked staff. The public didn't see that these were false economies and O'Reilly was able to make political hay out of his "balancing" the city's budget. _Yeah,_ Horatio thought, _on the backs of cops whose jobs are made increasingly more difficult thanks to fewer officers and fewer resources. _

As the Mayor began to launch into a litany of his achievements while in office, Horatio idly considered Miami Dade's charismatic Mayor. At middle-age, John Patrick O'Reilly was an attractive, beefy man with a thick, full head of prematurely silver hair, sparkling bright blue eyes, and a florid complexion. He had the sensual good looks of a man who likes women and knows he's attractive to them, but he also had a bonhomie that endeared him to male voters. Vitality and energy radiated from him, making him seem capable and almost indomitable in the successful pursuit of his goals. His reputation for drawing people to him and for securing their unwavering and enthusiastic loyalty was not exaggerated.

Horatio had met several of his type before and wasn't much fooled by the package, and he had also seen the Mayor's genial bright blue eyes take on a mean, wintry cast when the Mayor was denied some concession he wanted. He was an apt practitioner of "the art of the possible," a maker and breaker of deals - and he would brook no obstruction to his obtaining what he wanted, and, while Horatio couldn't prove this, he believed that in such cases, the Mayor's philosophy was "ethics be damned." Still, O'Reilly's personality played well in the press, and the media in Miami took to affectionately labeling him "Hizzoner" when reporting on his activities.

_Funny nickname_, thought Horatio with wry amusement, since he felt the name "O'Reilly" and the word "honor" mutually exclusive. Even so, a large segment of the Miami Dade public loved "Hizzoner" in spite of whispered stories in back rooms of too much alcohol and other peccadillos. What O'Reilly had going for him was charm and magnetism, an aptitude for wringing concessions from opponents, and a talent for crafting deals that often sounded better to a naive public than they actually were.

Tired of watching the Mayor, Horatio's eyes warmed as they glided over to the figure of Lauren, also on stage with the Mayor along with several other members of his staff.

Lauren and Horatio had many conversations about O'Reilly in the time he had known her, and Horatio could never quite reconcile in his mind that Lauren seemed to tolerate the Mayor in spite of her keen eye for seeing through his Irish charm. Unperturbed by Horatio's criticisms of him, Lauren tended to view Jack O'Reilly pragmatically. She was aware of his weaknesses, but she also believed he had strengths and a demonstrated ability to accomplish things for the good of the community while working within tough budgetary constraints during an economic downturn. She had expressed the thought to Horatio that when it came to the Mayor, Horatio tended to view things in terms of black and white, and Lauren believed that was unrealistic. It was a point of disquietude between them.

Horatio's attention abruptly shifted back to the Mayor whose recitation of his achievements had ended. After a momentary pause, O'Reilly said, "My friends, challenging times call for bold leadership, and for men and women unafraid to forcefully meet them. I am not only unafraid to address the difficulties we are faced with, but I relish the opportunity to meet those challenges head-on, and to work with the people of the great State of Florida to successfully resolve them. Working together, we can make a difference. Working together, we can do great things. And that is why, today, I am declaring myself a candidate for Governor of the State of Florida."

_Great_, thought Horatio, _just great_. Sighing, Horatio closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, listening to the applause and rallying cries of "Hizzoner" issuing from the television's speakers.

**XXXXX**

In mid-town Miami at the Xavier Hotel, Lauren stood on the dais with the Mayor, his wife, children, and other close staff members. Lauren laughed with the others on stage as festive red, white and blue balloons fell from above and lazily drifted downward on everyone in the room, much to the excitement and merriment of the supportive crowd. The exuberant Mayor beamed at his constituents, enjoying the affection enveloping him as the people began to chant, "Hizzoner! Hizzoner! Hizzoner!" Catching Lauren's eye, he winked at her surreptitiously, as if to say, "Told ya so, kid," and then laughed delightedly at the chanting throng as he reached for his wife's hand to pull her forward to stand with him before the people. With an uncomfortable smile on her face, Kate O'Reilly faced them, and her husband made a great show of putting his arms about her waist and kissing her cheek, much to the enjoyment and approval of those watching. Her manner uneasy, Mrs. O'Reilly smiled at her husband and, with him, waved at the large roomful of people as more applause erupted.

Lauren could see that Kate was not happy about the run for higher office. She appeared anxious, and her normally gracious but restrained manner seemed out of place before the raucous crowd. Gazing out at them, her smile was forced and her face appeared drawn. Lauren liked Kate O'Reilly; it was not easy being married to the boisterous and rather self-centered Mayor. Lauren had seen the two of them in private, when neither media nor crowd was present to bear witness, and Lauren did not approve of O'Reilly's often curt and impatient dismissal of his wife's feelings in matters large and small.

A pretty woman of middle age, Kate O'Reilly's attractive looks were beginning to fade. There was talk of too much drink and too many cigarettes - and too many nights spent alone. In truth, even Lauren had seen Kate once or twice reach for the extra glass or two of wine at a political function. Being an astute observer of others, and having a warm and sympathetic heart, Lauren rightly surmised that Mrs. O'Reilly's marriage was not a happy one. That and her unease at being center stage as the wife of an ambitious politician caused Kate to often retreat into too much alcohol in an attempt to cope with her unhappiness and her discomfort in her role as the Mayor's wife. When she could, Lauren tried to make things easier for Kate, shielding her from the sharp eyes of a gossipy media.

Lauren realized that Kate was not born for the political life, and seemed happiest when she was off to herself, playing her piano, transported by her music to a world that only she seemed to inhabit. Once asked to summon her for the Mayor, Lauren had entered Kate's music room, and for a moment stood out of sight, watching her, listening to the music, and transfixed by the beauty of Kate's sensitive interpretation of the piece she was playing. When caught up in her music, Kate was oblivious to life around her, and indeed it often seemed she sought escape from life through her music.

Even her children, Daniel and Kelly, found their mother unapproachable at times. There was a certain inscrutable curtain behind which Kate hid herself, and until that moment when Lauren glimpsed Kate's emotional piano performance, it had seemed to Lauren that Kate was a woman devoid of passion and emotion. But watching her play her instrument during those brief, meant-to-be-private moments, Lauren began to understand that the key to Kate was that she felt things too keenly and it made her too easily susceptible to pain. The music and the alcohol offered a temporary respite from the sadness of having a disinterested husband and the pain of functioning in a role for which she was not suited.

Lauren often found herself wondering how the quiet, sensitive and very private woman had ended up married to the brash, bombastic, and opportunistic Mayor. She could never successfully figure that out, and it continued to puzzle Lauren during her tenure with the Mayor.

Over the past year, Kate seemed to have decreased her dependence on alcohol, and was attempting to deal with the challenges of her life with sobriety and more equanimity, and she had seemed to be doing so reasonably well. Still, watching Kate standing alongside her husband before the cheering crowd, Lauren had the uneasy thought that Kate had the look of a deer caught in a car's headlights - and she worried if there might be trouble ahead.

_To be continued._


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

_Much later that afternoon...  
><em>  
>Lauren was starting to fade. It had been a long and eventful day. At the conclusion of the Mayor's announcement, she was left to respond to the many questions the media raised. Fortunately for Lauren, the Mayor was a beloved figure with the Miami news people. They loved his boisterous nature, his rough way of talking, his colorful speech, his often outrageous remarks to foes. He was good press, and the media loved him for it. As a result, Lauren's job was easier than it might have been. Few hardball questions came her way, in spite of the just-beneath-the-surface stories about the Mayor's penchant for pretty ladies and a few late night inebriated encounters with those bold enough to cross him.<p>

After pulling together her papers and other assorted items from the earlier press conference and stuffing them into her briefcase, Lauren sat down for a moment on one of the chairs still remaining on the now deserted stage. She really was tired, and a bit let down now that the event was over. Going over the day's activities in her mind, she tried to analyze why she was feeling a bit blue after such a successful day.

So much of her time these past few weeks had been devoted to the preparation and rehearsal of the Mayor's much anticipated announcement. She told herself it was not unusual to experience a let-down now that the event was over. But Lauren was also concerned about what she imagined she saw in Kate O'Reilly's eyes - a kind of quiet desperation that seemed almost at the breaking point. Going over it again in her mind, Lauren wondered if she was being silly, and imagining things that weren't really there.

Added to her worries about Kate's demeanor was Lauren's unease about Horatio's reaction to Jack O'Reilly's plans and her participation in them. Frowning, Lauren thought about Horatio's call to her after the press conference.

XXXXX

_**"Well... that was some news today, Lauren," Horatio said quietly.**_

"**_I'm sorry I couldn't share the news with you earlier, Horatio. I was 'sworn to secrecy' and told not to share the announcement with friend or foe until after the press conference," replied Lauren lightly, her nervousness coming through in the tone of her voice._**

**_"Really? And tell me, which category do I fall into, Lauren? 'Friend... or foe?' "_**

**_"Oh, Horatio," began Lauren, miserably, "you know that isn't what I meant! I wanted to tell you about this before now... and probably would have, in spite of directives from Jack's campaign staff... and I kept looking for an opportunity and the right words to say... because I knew you weren't going to be happy."_**

**_"THAT... would be an understatement," he said coolly._**

**_A few seconds of quiet passed during which Lauren tried unsuccessfully to figure out what to say to Horatio to make things better. Horatio sensed that she was confused and hurt, and his tone softened. "Sweetheart, we have to discuss this. Let's meet for a drink when you get finished, okay? We'll figure this out."_**

__  
>XXXXX<p>

"Such dark thoughts, sweet Lauren! You look as if you've lost your best friend. Take it from me - friends are an overrated commodity." Leaving her thoughts behind, Lauren saw Nick Nolan looking up at her from the floor facing the stage.

With his usual cavalier charm, he grinned and then bounded up the steps leading to the stage, and took a chair next to her. Nolan was a long-time associate of Jack O'Reilly, both of them having worked together over the years on various projects in the city. The two of them had a shared love of wielding power, and both excelled in the rough give-and-take of Miami politics. Nolan was O'Reilly's chief strategist and go-to guy, and had been instrumental in O'Reilly's emergence from the small pond of local politics. Many people found Nolan a formidable figure for he possessed a mocking, biting wit that he didn't hesitate to employ against enemies - and sometimes friends.

Even, sometimes, against O'Reilly. He knew O'Reilly's secret deals and compromises. Along the way, O'Reilly had stepped on a few toes (and throats) to rise to his position as Mayor, and the pragmatic Nolan had no problems with that: you do what you have to do - all for the greater good.

_The greater good_, thought Nolan, shamelessly, _and if it also creates a bit of greater good for those of us along for the ride, so much the better._

"So... what did you think of Hizzoner's performance today? Seems to me we scored a home run. Chanting crowd, adoring press - doesn't get much better than that for kicking off the start of a campaign."

"It did go well," Lauren agreed.

"Then why so glum, chum?"

"Nick, did Mrs. O'Reilly seem... rather... odd to you during the press conference?"

Nolan, who had been casually lounging in the chair next to Lauren's, sat up straight and looked sharply at her. "No... no more so than usual. Why? What makes you ask?"

"I'm not really sure. ...There was a look on her face... in her eyes... while she was facing the crowd that unsettled me."

Nolan considered Lauren's words for a moment and then visibly relaxed, leaning back in his chair, his posture seeming to dismiss Lauren's inarticulate worries.

Studying Lauren, Nolan realized she was genuinely concerned about the problematic Kate O'Reilly. In the fifteen years Nolan had been O'Reilly's confidante, clean-up man, and loyal lieutenant, he never developed a liking for the remote and glacial Kate. He knew she despised him and considered him a shameless hustler and he had a suspicion that she viewed him as a bad influence on Jack. Nolan found this rich when he stopped to think about it - as if anyone could negatively influence the strong-minded, bull-headed Jack O'Reilly.

At best, Nolan could control Jack; he understood his strengths and his weaknesses and in the years he'd known him had become adept at steering the Mayor away from incriminating behaviors. In those rare times when he was unsuccessful, he managed to wipe up the mess before it became unmanageable.

The wife was another matter.

Nolan couldn't quite figure out what made her tick. Instead of being grateful to Nick for keeping the Mayor's name pretty much out of the tabloids, she seemed contemptuous of him and tried to avoid being in his presence. When forced to be in his company, she smiled politely and looked right through him. It gave him the creeps, and he often had the feeling she saw more of him than he wished to share, and he hated her for it.

Pulling his thoughts from the disturbing Kate, Nolan thought about the young woman sitting next to him. He liked the Mayor's press secretary. She was young and attractive: a definite improvement from old Joe Armstrong, the Mayor's former liaison with the media. Nolan liked her warmth and her enthusiasm. He also liked that, in spite of some of Jack's vices and mis-steps, she still believed the Mayor wanted to help the people in the community and had the talent to do so. Nolan may have possessed a strong streak of self-interest, but he believed that as well, and he mentally saluted Lauren for her political practicality.

Most of all, he liked Lauren's long legs and graceful, slender figure. Several times Nolan had tried to move their relationship beyond the work place with no success. An attractive, athletic man, Nolan was unused to women who were immune to his appeal, but so far Lauren gave every evidence of this. She was friendly, laughed at his cynical comments and pretty much treated him as a naughty boy, in spite of the ten years he had on her. To Nolan, Lauren was a delightful prize he couldn't quite capture, but that didn't deter him from trying.

"So, sweet Lauren, aside from worries about the unstable Mrs. O'Reilly, why so moody?"

"I'm not sure, Nick. I just wish I could get the look in her eyes out of my mind. I have a... disquieting feeling that something is about to go wrong." She smiled at Nolan, suddenly feeling foolish at the lack of answering credence she saw in his eyes. "Forget I said anything," she said briskly. "It is probably just the effects of the post-celebration let-down I am feeling."

"Well, I know the way to take care of that, pretty lady," Nolan said, with an air of seriousness, as he reached out to gently finger a long wavy lock of Lauren's hair. "Let me buy you dinner tonight."

Smiling, Lauren backed out of his grasp. Trying to keep the situation light, she replied, "Thanks, Nick, but I am meeting Horatio tonight."

Nolan quickly recovered and said mockingly, "Ah yes! 'The Boy Scout.' "

Lauren laughed. "Really, Nick. I would think you could do better than to ape the Mayor's description of him. Show a little originality, for Pete's sake!"

Gathering up her briefcase and purse, Lauren walked down the steps from the stage and moved toward the door. She suddenly turned toward Nolan and said saucily, "Horatio Caine is many things, and in my eyes, all of them good. But I assure you, he is no boy scout."

XXXXX

Lauren jumped out of the cab, hurrying past the potted palms on either side of the heavily frosted glass and varnished mahogany doors, and entered into the warm, enveloping ambiance of Gatsby's. She smiled at Edward, the bartender, and headed toward the back of the lounge where she knew Horatio would be waiting for her in their favorite chocolate brown, soft leather booth. She slowed as she spied him sitting there, lost in thought, nursing a still full glass of brandy. _He looks tired_, she thought. _Tired and worried._ His shoulders were slightly hunched forward and he had a frown on his face as he gazed into the contents of the brandy snifter. _What's wrong?_ she wondered. _Surely this is not all due to the announcement today. _

Suddenly, Horatio looked up and saw her coming toward him. His eyes brightened and his entire carriage looked more cheerful as he rose to greet her. He looked around for prying eyes and, seeing none, briefly but warmly kissed her as they both settled into the booth. Looking decidedly more cheerful now that Lauren was sitting across from him, he took her hand and and smiled at her, "Hey, sweetheart. I was beginning to worry about you."

"I'm sorry, Horatio. I was caught in an awful traffic snarl. But now, here I am with you and everything is good. I'm so glad to be here with you."

"As am I, Miss Chambers. ...You know, when you were late, I began to wonder if I had been 'bumped' and would have to try to get another appointment with the Mayor's busy press secretary... ."

Although the words were spoken in jest, Lauren sensed he was not entirely joking. Squeezing his hand, she replied, "Lieutenant, you are always first on my schedule. I work the other appointments around you!"

Horatio smiled, saying nothing, and signaled the bartender that he should bring Lauren a brandy.

They sat quietly for a few moments. Lauren thought that Horatio was in a strange mood and she wasn't sure how to respond to it. Finally, she broke the silence. "Horatio, love, please don't be upset with me," she began, "I never meant to withhold Jack's plans from you for so long. It's true that we were instructed to keep the information inside the campaign, but I had intended to share it with you."

Sighing helplessly, she continued, "I know your feelings about Jack... and, well, I kept looking for the right opportunity to bring it up... but I just couldn't find it."

Lauren ran out of words beneath Horatio's intent gaze, and she lowered her head. She felt miserable.

"Lauren, look at me, okay?"

Lauren finally raised her eyes, meeting his gaze. His eyes were warm with feeling for her, and Lauren waited to hear what he was going to say.

"It is no secret to you that I don't share your... enthusiasm for O'Reilly. Even so, he is the man you work for. Beyond that, I've nothing concrete to criticize him for other than a dislike of his private life and the rumors associated with it.

"So... even though I don't view O'Reilly in the same light as you do, that has no bearing on your work relationship with him.

"But Lauren, have you thought of what the campaign will mean in terms of our relationship? As the campaign intensifies, you will be called upon to work longer hours, perhaps weekends."

Feeling like a selfish child, Horatio hesitated for a moment, but finally admitted what was on his mind.

"It is selfish of me, I know. But... I am tired of being alone. ...That's your fault, you know... you have become such a part of my life that... well, I have become possessive of losing... that... ."

"Horatio, you have to know that I feel the same way about you. I would never allow the job to take over my every minute. You're too important to me. _WE_ are too important to me!"

Horatio looked at her and wondered if she was fooling herself. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, knowing he was about to walk on uncertain ground. He cast his eyes down, awkwardly fingering the glass of brandy before him, uncertain how to say what he wanted to express. "You realize if O'Reilly wins the election... he will move to the capitol in Tallahassee." He began to tilt the brandy back and forth in the snifter, studying it as if the answer could be found in the syrupy liquid slowly gliding down the insides of the glass goblet. He looked up at her suddenly and intently. "And he will make offers to his staff to join him there and work for the new administration ...have you thought of that? ...of leaving Miami and moving to Tallahassee?"

"Tallahassee is not on the other side of the world, Horatio," she began, only to be interrupted.

"No, it is just in the middle of Florida, but for a relationship it may as well be in China. Realistically, it's almost impossible for two people to stay connected when daily they are several hundreds of miles apart. Did I misunderstand the... level... of commitment here?" His voice was sad, uncertain, and not accusatory. Lauren was both shamed that Horatio questioned her commitment to their relationship and also thrilled that it seemed he wanted her near him, not several hours away.

Taking his hand in hers, she looked into his eyes and earnestly told him what had been on her mind the past few weeks. "Horatio, I have already made up my mind that if Jack wins the election, I won't be going with him to Tallahassee.

"Before meeting you, I would have, but I can't do that now."

Troubled, Horatio said, "I love you and I wonder if I am being selfish... am I being fair to you?"

She suddenly smiled widely and happily. "Do you know how much I adore hearing you be 'selfish'? I want you to need me with you!

"But I want this opportunity, Horatio, to work on the campaign and see it successfully to fruition. I am excited to have this challenge - and if Jack wins, it will help me here in Miami to find another position. All I ask is that you support me in this, honey, and not make me feel... conflicted during the next several months.

"I know you dislike Jack, that you think he is only out for himself. But, Horatio, do you think so little of my judgment that I would blindly work for someone who didn't have the interests of the people also at heart? I know he isn't a perfect man. There are things about him that I don't... like... but, Horatio, he has worked for legislation that has benefitted families, especially single parent families in need, as well as Miami's youth, and has worked to make health care more accessible for those without the resources to afford it. These are real achievements... and, if he isn't perfect... in all ways, well, he does a good enough job in answering a lot of needs for a lot of people. In spite of his ego, in spite of his... failings.

"I need you to trust me on this, and not put up a wall when I want to talk about what I am doing. I want to feel that you're proud of me, and happy for me. Please don't make me feel I am walking on egg shells. I want to be able to talk to you about the campaign, to share my work life with you... just as I want to share your feelings about your job. Please... be in my corner with this."

Horatio loved Lauren, and seeing the sincere entreaty for his understanding in her expressive gray eyes convinced him. Coming to a decision, Horatio nodded. "Okay, fair enough. I don't like O'Reilly, but I can accept that you believe he brings some ... value to the lives of some of his constituents. And I do want you to be able to talk with me about all things that are important to you. Sweetheart, I don't ever want you to feel you're walking on egg shells with me, okay? I want you to always know you can talk to me... about anything. About everything."

The lingering disquiet Lauren had felt about Horatio's reaction to the race eased, and Lauren felt happier than she had all afternoon. But looking at Horatio, she saw that he still seemed worried about something.

"Horatio, are you certain you're okay with this? ...You seem... disturbed still."

Horatio slowly pushed away his glass of brandy and rubbed his hand wearily across his eyes. Sighing, he groped for the words that would allow him to address the fears that were never far from his thoughts. He worried that to verbalize his fears might, in some superstitious way, cause them to come to pass. Finally, Horatio admitted, "I'm worried about Kyle."

Lauren quickly leaned forward, concern written across her lovely features. "Horatio? Has something happened? Have you heard something, honey?"

"No, no. Nothing like that. I... just wish he'd find a way to get in touch with me. With the burning of the Korans that occurred, tensions are so heightened... two troops were killed today in retaliation for the burnings. It's very bad, Lauren. God, I wish he was home!"

Lauren knew how much Horatio worried about his boy in Afghanistan, and his deployment to that dangerous area of the world was a shadow on Horatio's happiness. Kyle's safety was never far from his thoughts, and the news reports coming out of the region only added to his worries.

"Tell you what, Lieutenant Caine," she said lightly, "why don't you come home with me tonight? I will make you a nice dinner and spoil you terribly. We will sit out on the balcony, play some soft music and look at the stars, and we'll put all of our troubles behind us for a few hours, hmm?"

Horatio smiled at her. "I'd like that, sweetheart... but I think I'd like to be home tonight... just in case Kyle tries to reach me."

"Okay. Then why don't I go home with you?" When Horatio looked as though he were about to protest, she said softly, "Honey, I don't want you to be alone tonight, worrying about Kyle, when there is nothing you can do about the situation. I know you: you'll brood and won't eat and you won't get any sleep. Let me take care of you tonight. Let me help, okay?"

Horatio knew she was right. And the last thing he wished was to be alone, lost in worries about his boy. He wanted to lay down next to Lauren at the end of the evening, allowing her warmth and sweetness to calm his anxious heart. God, if only he would hear from Kyle!

"Horatio, okay?" Lauren softly repeated.

Cupping her cheek with his hand, he quietly replied, "Ma'am, there is nothing I'd like better."

Together, they rose from the booth, said goodnight to Edward, and went home.

_To be continued..._


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

_Two days later..._

"Son, how are you?" Horatio gazed intently at the image of his boy on the computer screen. It was 9:00 in the morning and Horatio knew he was going to be late for work, but for once he didn't give a damn. Horatio was relieved that Kyle had finally made contact with him, but dismayed at the grimness in the corners of the young man's mouth and the new hardness in his eyes that Horatio hated seeing.

"I'm okay, Dad. I'm sorry I couldn't contact you until now... it has been... complicated."

"Son, I don't want you to worry about that, okay? You don't need to apologize. When you can, you contact me. That works just fine." Horatio paused for a moment, wanting to say what was on his mind, but not wanting to put Kyle on the spot. "The news in the States about... events... in the region are bad."

Kyle uneasily shifted his eyes away from his father's image on the screen. "It's bad. We are under heightened security. I can't talk about this, Dad. But I'm okay."

Kyle looked once again at Horatio's image and met his eyes. "What's important to me is that I don't disappoint you," he said earnestly. "Dad, I want to be the man you are. It's important to me... to make you proud of me."

Horatio felt his stomach clench as he listened to those heartfelt words. "Kyle," he said urgently, "Kyle, listen to me: I am very proud of the man you are. Do not ever doubt that! And don't take risks to live up to some idealized view you may have of me.

"You are a brave man, and I'm honored to be your father. And I want you to come home to me, Son. Take care of yourself, and come home to me."

Kyle swallowed the sudden painful lump in his throat. Horatio Caine was more than just his dad; he was the finest man that Kyle had ever known and it was his strongest desire to be the man his father was. To hear his dad tell him he was a brave man and that he was proud of him meant more to Kyle than any award the United States might bestow upon him for service to his country. Wanting to comfort his dad and shift the conversation along more mundane avenues, Kyle asked Horatio if he was still seeing Lauren.

Horatio's features briefly relaxed and a sweet smile stole across his face as he thought of Lauren. "Yes, I'm still seeing her. When you come home, I want you to meet her. She is... very special."

Kyle grinned at the softness in his father's face when he spoke of this woman. His dad had been a stoic, lonely man for much of the time that Kyle had known him, and it gladdened his heart to see his father happy. Kyle hadn't yet met the woman who brought the soft happiness to his father's face when mentioned, but he was very curious about her. _She must be one helluva woman_, he thought, to get past the barriers his father always had in place.

"I'm looking forward to that, Dad... and to seeing you again too. Dad, I gotta go - it's dinner time here. I will contact you again as soon as I'm able."

_So fast_, thought Horatio. _The conversations with Kyle go by so quickly_.

Getting his disappointment and his fears under control, Horatio smiled at his boy. "Okay, Son. Be careful - and please contact me when you can."

"Will do, Dad. ...I love you."

Horatio felt his heart constrict with emotion. "You, too, Son. I love you, too."

The screen went dark and Horatio rubbed his eyes. _Life is certainly strange_, he thought. _This boy was dropped into my life suddenly and now he is almost the entirety of it._ _Come home safe, Kyle! Come home safe!  
><em>

XXXXX

_Across town in the office of Miami Dade's Mayor...  
><em>  
>Lauren was sipping her extra strong, black coffee, and making some notes on a legal pad while seated at the long oval table in the Mayor's conference room. She was waiting for the various members of O'Reilly's staff to enter the room so that they could start the staff meeting she had been called into. Suddenly, the phone in the pocket of her aqua colored jacket vibrated. She took it out and glanced at the incoming text message from Horatio. Her heart eased as she read the message: <em>Sweetheart, just spoke with Kyle. He is okay.<em>"

Lauren felt some of the tension she had been experiencing the past few days begin to dissipate. She had been so troubled about Horatio's well-being as well as being concerned about the safety of the son she had never met. It hurt her to see Horatio so worried and trying so unsuccessfully to hide it. Sometimes she was filled with anxiety as she thought what it might do to Horatio if something happened to Kyle. Lauren, more than most, knew the emotional losses Horatio had sustained over the years and she didn't want him to experience another. She prayed each night for Kyle, that he would return safely to Horatio.

There was a small part of Lauren that worried about what Kyle's reaction toward her would be when he did come home. Horatio had shared with her the history of Julia and the child he didn't know about for so many years. She understood that Kyle was very protective of his mother... even though her illness prevented her from being the mother she should have been. Lauren smiled to herself thinking how like Horatio that was: to continue to love, to try to understand, and to care about someone who disappointed you, to forgive them for their weaknesses or flaws. She loved that streak of active compassion in Horatio and was heartened to know Kyle also possessed it. Oh, she so hoped Kyle would like her when they finally met! It was important to her that Horatio's son accept her.

As the Mayor's staff began to enter the room, Lauren quickly texted Horatio back: _Wonderful news, honey! So glad! Talk more later_.

Nick Nolan slid into the seat next to Lauren as Chuck Thompson, the Mayor's campaign manager entered the room. Lauren sat up expectantly; she liked and respected the tall, thin African American. He was a rather homely man, but his gentle, unassuming manner and warm, friendly brown eyes made his features pleasing in spite of their lack of symmetry. Even more, he was smart! Better than anyone on the staff, he seemed to understand what made people tick.

Like Lauren, Thompson wanted to see things improve for people who were powerless by themselves to effect positive change. Thompson had come from a hardscrabble background, and he understood and appreciated how difficult it was for people in strained circumstances to stay together as families, to feed and care for their children, to give them a good education. His own mother had been a single parent raising two boys in the projects of Miami, cleaning houses to provide for her sons. Every night she would come home after working all day, make dinner for he and his brother, and then make them remain seated at the table, reading aloud to her from their school books as she did the dishes in their small kitchen. It was years later that Thompson realized his mother couldn't read very well, but was determined that her boys wouldn't have that problem. Her goal was to send both sons to college - and through hard work, sacrifice and scholarship opportunities, Thompson and his brother achieved their mother's dream. Thompson was proud of his mother, and the saddest day of his life had been the day she passed away from a heart attack at the age of 51. He wasn't ready to let her go, but the lessons she taught him stayed with him... lessons he tried hard to instill in his two little girls, even though their lives were very much different than his had been as a child.

Thompson looked around the room, and then at Lauren. "So where's Hizzoner? He was the one who called this strategy meeting, right?"

Lauren glanced at Nick, who shrugged as if to say, "_Am I my brother's keeper?_"

Seeing Lauren's frown at his cavalier attitude, Nick remarked, "Perhaps he is emptying out the gin bottles Kate has hidden in the piano bench."

"Nice, Nolan, very nice," said Thompson.

Lauren gave Nolan a disapproving look and left the conference room and rounded the corner to speak with Dolores Esteban, the Mayor's pleasant, no-nonsense assistant. "Mrs. Esteban, has the Mayor called? He is a bit late for our meeting."

The handsome older woman smiled at Lauren. "No, Lauren, no word from him. I'm sure he won't be much longer." She was about to say more when her phone rang. "Dolores Esteban," she answered as Lauren started to walk back to the conference room. Turning the corner, she paused as her attention was caught by the sudden tension in Mrs. Esteban's voice.

"Maria, Maria! Compose yourself, I cannot understand a word you are saying. What is wrong? Why are you crying?"

_Maria_? thought Lauren. Mrs. Esteban's sister, Maria Martinez, was well known to Lauren, having worked periodically in the Mayor's office, assisting with the office workload during busy times. She was a young, beautiful girl with lots of long, thick black hair, a light coppery cast to her lovely skin, and golden brown eyes that always looked a bit vulnerable. A quiet girl, she was working her way through college and, according to Mrs. Esteban, worked several jobs to pay for her schooling and help their elderly mother with whom she lived.

The Mayor's staff liked Maria, and often called her in to help out as much as possible. Lauren had once or twice noticed that the Mayor seemed particularly fond of her, and encouraged Dolores to send work Maria's way when things became too overwhelming in the office.

Lauren doubled back to where Mrs. Esteban stood, trying to calm her sister during their conversation. She caught Lauren's eye, whose raised eyebrows nonverbally asked whether there was anything she could do to help. Dolores waved her off and turned her back on Lauren, continuing to speak with her sister. Realizing there was nothing she could do to assist at that moment, Lauren returned to the meeting room feeling decidedly unsettled.

She approached Nolan and Thompson who were idly chatting about the campaign while waiting for O'Reilly to show.

"So what's up? I assume you were checking on Jack's whereabouts with Dolores." Nolan took note of Lauren's worried expression and felt feelings of foreboding begin to stir and cause a burning sensation in his stomach. Berating himself for drinking too much coffee and wishing he had an antacid on him, he was wondering what shenanigans O'Reilly was now involved in. "Does Dolores know where he is?"

"um... no. She thinks he is probably just running late and will soon arrive." Lauren didn't know whether she should bring up the bit of conversation she'd overheard or not, but she could tell her face was giving her away to the two observant men since they continued to look at her with interest.

Sighing and wishing she had a better "poker face," she decided to share her concern with them. "Mrs. Esteban received a call from Maria that has her upset... from the little I heard, it seems that Maria is in a bad way."

Nolan looked avidly interested at this piece of news, and equal parts of dismay and curiosity vied for dominance in his brain. He found Maria lovely but mouse-like. He never much cared for timid women and she had a shy, almost frightened way of dropping her eyes whenever he entered the room and addressed even the most innocuous comments her way. So, while lovely to look at and a nice enough girl, Nolan had never much found himself attracted to her.

But he was curious what was causing her distress. Truth be told, if O'Reilly was in the room, Nolan wouldn't have been all that interested in whatever Maria's plight might be. What grabbed his interest and dismayed him at the same time was the Mayor's unexplained lateness for their meeting. He had seen the interest Jack had paid the girl, the jovial flirtation with her, trying to wring a smile or answering interest from her. To Nolan's best recollection, Maria would blush, give him a small smile and lower her eyes. Nolan could never quite make up his mind whether Jack was making any headway with the girl or not.

But now, with O'Reilly's late arrival and Dolores' troubled conversation with Maria, Nolan began to worry that perhaps Jack had done or was about to do something stupid... and something that Nolan would be required to clean up for the man, yet again. Not for the first time, Nolan found himself thinking contemptuously, _How can such a smart man be so careless? And especially now, when he is poised to move onto a bigger stage?_

Nolan was about to question Lauren further, but saw she was studying Thompson with a puzzled frown on her face.

Lauren thought she had seen a flicker of anxiety and something else she couldn't quite identify in Chuck's eyes when she relayed Mrs. Esteban's tense conversation with Maria. _What is that all about?_ she wondered.

At that moment, the door opened and the Mayor entered, bellowing crossly, "Dolores, bring me the notes in the red folder on my desk - and a cup of coffee, while you're at it." He quickly took his place at the head of the table, sitting down heavily. His normally florid complexion was redder than usual, and there was an ugly scowl on his face. The Mayor was not in a good mood.

He began to quickly and decisively bring everyone up to speed on how he wanted the upcoming campaign to proceed. He had particular points he addressed to Lauren, instructing her to put out feelers to the news media as to what human interest details they would find it newsworthy to explore. He also wanted Lauren to arrange for some interviews for Mrs. O'Reilly with supportive members of the media.

Nolan interrupted, "Jack, do you think that's wise?"

The disgruntled Mayor, already ill-humored and now annoyed at being interrupted, stared at Nolan with hard blue eyes. "Kate can be a valuable asset to us. She is attractive and cultured, and the public will eat that up."

"She also has certain liabilities as I'm sure you realize," responded Nolan with irritation.

The room went silent as O'Reilly stonily stared at Nolan. With ice in his voice, he said, "Are you questioning my judgment, Nick?"

"Let's just say, Jack, that I don't think you've had the time to think this through... clearly."

The Mayor looked as though he were about to explode at the impertinence of that remark from one of his staff members, even if it were from his longtime confidant and close friend.

Stepping into the breach and hoping to reduce the tension that had suddenly engulfed the room, Lauren said, "Jack, I think you're right. We should make more use of Kate's assets in the coming campaign. And I think Nick is concerned that we don't suddenly spring this on Kate, but give her the time and the coaching she needs to weather the campaign successfully.

"I think that, like me, Nick has noticed that Kate seems ambivalent about her role in the campaign and displays an uncertainty in her demeanor as a result. I'm sure I can work with Kate to help her overcome any concerns she has and to coach her through encounters with the media."

The temperature in the room went down a degree or two as the Mayor seemed to consider and accept Lauren's words. Turning back to Nolan, he pointedly asked, "Is that right, Nick? Do you agree with Lauren's assessment of Kate's value to us?"

A few seconds elapsed, and then Nolan equably shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, Jack. We'll make it work." _We always make it work, don't we, you fool_, he thought angrily.

Less irate, but still in a foul mood, O'Reilly continued the meeting.

Inwardly sighing, Lauren thought to herself, _This is going to be a long day_.

To be continued...


	6. Chapter 6

**_This is a very long chapter - I apologize for the length, but hated to cut it in half. I wanted to give you some important background, but still provide you with a look into Horatio's relationship with Lauren. So, please, I hope you'll read all the way to the end of the chapter, and not skip anything. Thank you._**

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER SIX<strong>

Finally the day that seemed like it would never end did, and Lauren was sitting in her office, making a few notes before heading home. She wished she were going to see Horatio this evening rather than going back to her empty condo where she would more than likely microwave something for herself and then just work on her plans to contact members of the press and figure out how she was going to make Kate O'Reilly receptive to giving a few press interviews. It was undoubtedly going to take some finesse.

Thinking of the art of finesse, Lauren's thoughts drifted back to Mrs. Esteban and Lauren's babbling to Nick and Chuck what she had heard during that woman's conversation with her sister. If she had taken a moment to get her thoughts in order, she was certain she would not have shared Mrs. Esteban's conversation with them. Lauren was bothered by her lapse in judgment and was concerned it reflected poorly on her ability to perform her job well. Forlornly, she reminded herself that a large part of her position as press secretary to the Mayor was handling sensitive matters with aplomb, and not giving way due to stress or even to legitimate concern for others. Thinking about her error in judgment earlier in the day, Lauren started to descend into a blue mood and doubt her ability to hold her own in her job.

Again she wished she were seeing Horatio. Still feeling unsettled about Maria, she could use a little cheering up.

Realizing that someone was standing in her doorway, Lauren looked up and saw a figure paused uncertainly at the entrance. "Miss Chambers...?"

"Kelly! How nice to see you! I didn't know you were home from school."

Kelly O'Reilly smiled warmly at Lauren. "I came home yesterday. Spring break starts a bit earlier at my school than most others."

"No trip planned for the break?"

"No. My friends are headed to the Bahamas, but I wanted to come home and see Mother and Da, especially now that Da has announced his plans to run for governor. And Da wants me to accompany he and Mother to Saturday night's Gala. Pretty exciting stuff, huh?" Kelly grinned exuberantly and winked at Lauren, as if to pull her into the excitement.

The pert 20 year old strongly reminded Lauren of her father. Jack O'Reilly's younger child had his outgoing, boisterous charm, as well as his sparkling blue eyes and animated features. Her smooth cap of shiny, bright gold hair barely reached her chin, and swung saucily to and fro when Kelly was excitedly engaged in conversation. She was a bundle of energy and enthusiasm, enjoyed meeting her father's constituents on the occasions she traveled with him to speaking engagements, and she seemed to have inherited his love of politics. Her goal set on studying law, Kelly was in her last year at Duke University and had already been accepted into the University of Virginia Law School.

O'Reilly was very fond of his daughter, and proud of her as well, often saying she would one day accomplish great things. He liked watching her handle herself in public, admiring her humor, intelligence and political savvy. One of the items on Lauren's 'to do' list was to arrange some opportunities for Kelly to sit down with the press during the summer months as she helped her father with his campaign. Kelly's fresh, sparkling charm made her a favorite with the locals in Miami and O'Reilly was hoping to parlay her ease and friendliness with the public on to a larger stage when he began campaigning throughout the State of Florida.

Lauren had no doubt that Kelly would be receptive toward helping her father: she was what has been called a 'daddy's girl.' She loved her father wholeheartedly and tended to view him with admiration and a fierce devotion that brooked no doubts about his motivations or his behavior. Loyal to and protective of her family, Kelly would freeze anyone who expressed doubts about her father. To Kelly, he was simply the best man she had ever known.

Lauren found it difficult to discern in Kelly any of the quiet, retiring qualities of her mother. When all was said and done, the charming Kelly was one hundred percent her father's daughter.

It was hard not to be affected by Kelly's conspiratorial charm when she wanted to draw you in, and Lauren discovered that her mood was lightening as she agreed with Kelly that the Mayor's campaign plans were indeed pretty exciting "stuff."

"So, does your dad know you're here in the office, Kelly?" Remembering Jack's bearish mood all day, Lauren felt she would just as soon face a firing squad as spend any additional time in his presence that evening.

"He does now. He was finishing up a phone call when Mrs. Esteban told him I was here. I am hoping to steal him away for dinner if possible."

"That's good. That may be what he needs - he hasn't been in the best of moods today."

Kelly's sunny face briefly clouded over as her thoughts seemed to darken. Watching her, Lauren wondered what she was thinking about. Almost instantly, Kelly's expression cleared, leaving Lauren to wonder if she'd imagined the momentary grimness.

"Hmmm... well, dinner should prove interesting then. I was hoping to catch him in a good mood so I could soften him up. I have been sent to Da as the 'sacrificial lamb.' Danny wants me to break some news to him that he is not much going to like, I'm afraid."

_Oh no_, thought Lauren. Daniel O'Reilly was the Mayor's son, two years older than Kelly, and hundreds of miles apart from her in temperament. Whereas Kelly was filled with an infectious happiness and charm, Danny was a quiet, sensitive young man, a bit overly solemn and of a religious cast of mind.

From what Lauren had observed, in spite of differing natures, Kelly and Danny were very close. She seemed to "mother" the young man, perhaps giving him the affection that Kate seemed unable to provide. The few times she'd seen Kelly with her brother, it looked to Lauren as though Kelly was years older than Danny, when in fact he was the older one.

Lauren had also noticed that when it came to his children, O'Reilly was easily softened. This was not just true in Kelly's case, but also in Danny's. Jack often appeared perplexed by the male child he'd sired, seeing little of himself in the boy, but loving him just the same. He seemed to display a gentleness toward the boy that was seldom displayed toward others, and this surprised those who knew him and thought he'd be disappointed in Danny's quiet, gentle solemnity, so far removed from Jack's own tempestuous nature. But instead of pushing the boy to be something he wasn't, he and Kelly often conspired to shield Danny from life's harder edges. It confused Lauren and touched a chord within her that someone who was such a hard-nosed realist and who did not shirk from getting his own hands dirty was so quietly and fiercely protective of his son. It was one of the things she liked about O'Reilly - and which puzzled her about human nature.

Smiling affectionately as she thought about her brother, Kelly shrugged. "I guess I can tell you since it is not really a secret.

"Danny wants to enter the seminary. I don't think this is going to be exactly the news Da is going to be thrilled hearing."

Silently, Lauren agreed. "How do you think he will take it?"

Kelly chuckled. "I am certain he will rant and rave when I deliver the news! Hence the decision to tell him out in public during dinner - I can contain the reaction!"

"Good thinking! ...perhaps you should be running this campaign!" It brought a smile to Lauren's face to think of O'Reilly having to exercise restraint in public when he heard the news. "What do you think he'll do?"

"What can he do?" the pragmatic Kelly replied. "Danny is pretty settled on this. Da will do what he always does: he'll rant to me, but then he will subside and get behind Danny. He may not understand him, but he loves Danny. And after he calms down, he'll be trying to figure out a way to use this in the campaign to his benefit."

"Well, there are a lot of Catholic voters in Miami... and, state-wide, it can't hurt to have a son who embraces the old time values of the Church," said Lauren thoughtfully.

With a sparkle in her eyes, Kelly grinned. "Exactly! And I'll be the first one to remind him of that fact!"

"Does your mother know yet? Has Danny confided in her?"

Some of the animation left Kelly's face as she briefly glanced away from Lauren and began fiddling with a button on the sleeve of the jacket she was wearing. "No. I had wanted to tell her today before coming to see Da, but... well, you know how Mother is. Her thoughts are always elsewhere... and she was in a tearing hurry to get to her Conservatory board meeting.

"Sometimes I think the Music Conservatory is the only thing she really cares about. It's sad that neither Danny nor I share her aptitude for music... maybe it would have made us closer," she said wistfully. For a moment, Lauren had a brief glimpse of the emotionally-hungry little girl behind the breezy, confident young woman standing in front of her... the little girl who tried so hard but could never quite connect with her well-meaning but always distant mother.

A moment later they heard Jack O'Reilly striding down the hall, bellowing, "Kelly! Kelly! Where are you, girl?"

"Ah, there you are," he said, finally catching sight of her in Lauren's office. Engulfing her in a big bear hug, O'Reilly beamed at both Kelly and Lauren. "Come to take me to dinner, have you?"

"Indeed I have, and I hope you have your credit card ready because I am famished!"

Lauren smiled at the sight of the departing father and daughter. They were both so much alike. Watching them leave, Lauren experienced a pang of melancholy. She loved Miami, but there were times when she missed her hometown, and being with her family. It had been several months since she'd been home and she missed her own father and mother. With the campaign beginning to swing into high gear, who knew when she'd get the opportunity to visit?

Glumly, she gathered up her notes and put them in the briefcase. As she was preparing to turn the lights off in her office and head for home, her phone buzzed.

"Hi Beautiful," said the warm, familiar voice.

"Hey, honey!"

"Want to grab some dinner with me? Maybe take a walk on the beach?"

"You are a life saver! You have no idea how much I'd like to do that. I would prefer to go home first and get out of these work clothes... can you pick me up at my place in an hour?"

"I'll be there."

Shoving the phone back into her purse, Lauren continued down the hall. Seeing Dolores Esteban still at her desk, Lauren approached her.

The older woman looked up at Lauren and smiled at her. "Heading home, Lauren?"

"I am." Hesitating for a moment, Lauren made up her mind to inquire if everything was okay with Maria.

Sighing, Dolores shook her head. "She had me so upset earlier today! She was all in a dither about our mother being unwilling to take her medication for her memory problems. Mama is getting more difficult and more set in her ways, and it's hard on Maria. Even with a part-time caregiver, Mama is still a handful. I think Maria was just at the end of her rope today."

"Well, I am glad it was not something worse," Lauren replied. "I was concerned."

"You're very kind. Thank you. I must admit... I was surprised that Maria reacted so... emotionally... to Mama's stubbornness. It is not as if this is the first time Mama has acted out. I guess we all have our limits, yes?"

"Yes, I suppose that is true. Goodnight, Mrs. Esteban."

XXXXX

Horatio watched as the ocean breeze playfully lifted strands of Lauren's long blond waves and blew them softly against her face. Reaching out his hand, he gently moved the hair away from her eyes and impulsively planted a light kiss against her pretty mouth.

Horatio was enjoying his stroll with Lauren along the water's edge, smiling as he watched her coyly skirt the chilling white foam as it inched its way toward their bare toes on the hard-packed, wet sand. The sun was beginning its descent and the resulting colors were magnificent. He liked watching the dark orange sun slowly descend behind the deep blue water, and his nostrils caught the scent of sea-born salt in the air. The sounds of the seagulls overhead, noisily flapping their wings and squawking, conspired with the gentle roar of the waves as they approached the shore to create a sense of deep contentment within him. And of all the things he was most enjoying on this early Spring evening, he was especially delighting in looking at the pretty young woman next to him, dressed in a pale pink tank top, short flowered skirt, and whose long, lightly tanned legs were constantly catching his notice.

In short, Horatio was happy.

He and Lauren had relaxed over dinner at the new seafood restaurant by the water, eating broiled crab cakes on crackers with side orders of cole slaw and French fries. He'd listened to Lauren's usual lament that if one really wanted good crab cakes they needed to go to Baltimore where people knew the secret to making them. "It's the _Old Bay_ seasoning and lots of lump crab meat. But you have to use _Old Bay_, or it just isn't the same." It was Lauren's firm belief that every other state in the union failed in comparison to her hometown when it came to making spectacular crab cakes. Horatio had, by now, so often heard this judgment against all restaurants not in the Chesapeake Bay region that it made him smile. And so did the longing she often expressed at those times for an ice cold _Natty Boh_, which was a beer that was loved more for nostalgia's sake by Baltimoreans than for its taste.

Dinner had been pleasant and, now, the walk along the beach was nicely rounding out Horatio's evening. He had been so tense the last several days, worrying about Kyle, wondering if he was safe when he hadn't heard from him. Being able to talk to his son had soothed Horatio's worries, and he now felt like a schoolboy let out for the holidays. Lauren had commented on his relaxed demeanor when he picked her up - and she too had seemed to relax when she saw that he was no longer anxious.

Stealing a glance at the lovely woman beside him, Horatio understood that she'd been terribly concerned about him, and he hated that he caused her such worry. Still, he was no good at dissembling when it came to his fears for his boy.

Kyle had entered Horatio's life late, the son he had never known existed until a few years ago. He was a gift that Horatio had never anticipated, and much of Horatio's life was now wrapped up in the boy. Whenever he thought of Kyle, his heart would experience a funny little lurch that was affection, concern and pride all bound together. No stranger to turmoil, his son had somehow managed to put all the broken pieces of his life together and Horatio was extremely proud of the man he was becoming.

Like Kyle, Lauren, too, had come to him at a late point in his life. It both surprised and disconcerted Horatio how quickly she had managed to become so very important to him. She had a way of reading him and getting past his barriers that both thrilled him and - if the truth be known - scared him a little bit. Horatio had spent his life keeping his feelings tightly contained, not trusting many people with them. From a young age Horatio had learned it was better to observe and not give vent to what one was feeling. It was safer.

But he felt very safe with Lauren. Whether it was her patience, her kindness or her astute sense of when to push and when to give way, she offered him a secure environment in which to temporarily put aside the always strong, always capable persona he had assumed so long ago. The night before he'd heard from Kyle, he was terribly worried and anxious. Lauren understood so well that left on his own for the evening, he would do nothing but worry and obsess about Kyle's lack of communication. Instead of allowing him to do that, she went home with him, fixed him a nice dinner, and made sure he ate it over relaxed conversation. She cajoled him into sitting on the back deck and sharing a glass of wine, and together they listened to the soft guitar of Antonio Jobim, whose gentle Brazilian music drifted out toward them from within the house. Later, after they had made love, Lauren held him close, softly whispering the mantra, "It will be okay... Kyle will be okay... go to sleep, honey."

And, surprisingly, he did.

With Lauren, he could sometimes be the needy one. It was a nice change for Horatio to be on the receiving side of comfort, rather than always on the giving side. That was one of Lauren's gifts to him.

As they walked on, Horatio began to notice that Lauren had grown increasingly quiet and preoccupied. Coming to an abrupt halt, Lauren was forced to suddenly stop as well. Puzzled, she looked at him. "Horatio, what's the matter?"

"I might ask you the same thing," he returned smoothly. "Something seems to be bothering you... care to share?"

"Nothing is wrong. I just have a lot on my mind."

Horatio's response to her evasive answer was to raise his eyebrows questioningly, slightly tilt his head, and gaze at her intently. In spite of her moodiness, Lauren had to laugh. "You're giving me the 'look,' Lieutenant."

"And what 'look' would that be?"

"The 'I am going to stand here and interrogate you until I get everything out of you' look ...um... do I need a lawyer?" she asked playfully. "Are you going to read me my rights and then handcuff me til I'm ready to 'sing like a canary!' "

"You, Miss Chambers, watch too many 1930s gangster movies. 'Sing like a canary?' " Horatio shook his head with amusement. "...although the idea of you in handcuffs does have a ...certain... appeal.

"Seriously, sweetheart, why so quiet?"

Lauren sighed. "I don't know, Horatio. I'm sorry. I don't mean to put a damper on our evening."

"Stop this," he said seriously. "Tell me what's wrong."

"I'm not sure," she replied with exasperation. "It was a long day at work. Jack was in a terrible mood most of the day; one of our staffers called in, apparently upset about family difficulties; Nick and Jack got into an ugly little sparring match; and I've got to figure out how to make Kate O'Reilly receptive to the idea of giving press interviews!"

Watching her intently during her recitation of the day's events, Horatio thoughtfully considered what she had said.

"Okay... okay, I get that. But, Lauren, you're no stranger to O'Reilly's mercurial moods or to office politics. And it's no surprise that O'Reilly's wife shuns the press and that you are going to have your work cut out for you with her during the campaign.

"What's the real reason, sweetheart?" he said soothingly.

Suddenly Lauren realized exactly what was bothering her and she had a strong and momentary desire to bawl like a ten year old. Brokenly, she softly said, "I miss them."

Horatio looked at her questioningly. "My family," she said, more strongly. "I miss my family. Seeing Jack and Kelly, going off arm and arm to dinner, reminded me of how much I miss my dad and mom, my grandfather... it has been so long since I've been home. ...You've never even met any of them."

Horatio experienced a feeling of inexplicable alarm at the last remark, but he understood how connected Lauren was to her family. "I'm sure O'Reilly could spare you for a day or two if you wanted to go home for a long weekend," he said kindly.

Lauren seemed to consider this. "Yes. Perhaps. Once the Mayor's United Way Gala is over, Jack may be more receptive to having me take a few days.

"Speaking of the Gala," she said lightly, "do you have a tux for the evening?"

Horatio had been trying his best to put out of his mind that he'd committed to attending the function next Saturday night as Lauren's escort. If there had been a way to gracefully avoid it, he would have. But he realized as Lauren's lover, he couldn't make excuses to not attend certain events important to her... no matter how boring or distasteful he might find them.

"Yes ma'am."

"Good," she said with satisfaction. "You will be quite handsome in it. And the event should be quite the thing. You will not be bored.

Resuming their walk down the beach, Horatio thought to himself grimly, _"Want to bet?"_

To Be Continued…


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

The morning after the Mayor's United Way Gala, Horatio lay in bed, his eyes half closed in the early dawn hours, still feeling a bit exhausted from the evening before. It had been a late night, and Lauren, sleeping soundly, was huddled against him like a warm, satisfied kitten. In that comfortable state between wakefulness and sleep, Horatio allowed his thoughts to drift lazily back to the events of the previous evening.

He hadn't really wanted to attend the Mayor's Gala, but upon seeing Lauren's excited face when he picked her up for the evening, he had a change of heart. His special lady was dressed in a strapless, figure-hugging gray silk evening gown that had shimmering flounces of silver around the floor length hem. The color of the dress matched her expressive gray eyes, creating a pretty foil to her creamy rose complexion. Pale blonde waves cascaded down the front of one sweetly feminine shoulder, while leaving the other delectably bare.

He saw an answering approval in her warm eyes as she took in his appearance. "Well, well, well, Lieutenant Caine," she said suggestively. "Hmm... what is it about a handsome red-headed, blue-eyed man in a tux that... makes me want to take it off him... slowly... piece by piece... ?"

Horatio had smiled with undisguised pleasure at both the words and the image they conveyed, and softly growled in her ear, "I will look forward to exploring that question with you, ma'am... in detail... later this evening." Kissing her teasingly on the nose, and closing the door to her condo behind them, Horatio put his hand on the small of her back and led her to his car.

The Mayor's Gala, by and large, had been less painful for Horatio than he'd anticipated. Being a student of human nature, he found it interesting to watch the Mayor and his guests at the event. Some he already knew through Lauren; others he was meeting for the first time.

One person he'd met before and didn't like was Nick Nolan. Just thinking about him brought a flush of hot anger to Horatio's relaxed body. Drink in hand, the rakishly handsome Nolan had approached he and Lauren as soon as they'd arrived. Horatio hadn't liked the impudent way Nolan's eyes had slid over Lauren, as if he were taking mental inventory of her physical assets. Nor did he like the way Nolan had held her so closely while on the dance floor. Horatio had never considered himself a possessive man, but he quickly discovered that Nolan's cool, all too familiar appraisal of Lauren had made him want to punch the man in the mouth. Hard. Very hard.

Adding to Horatio's irritation at Nolan's leering looks at Lauren was his dislike of the man's sarcasm and contempt for the people he worked with in the Mayor's office. Horatio found it hypocritical and self-serving, and he was glad when Nolan walked away to speak with others. Lauren had noticed Horatio's clipped speech when addressing Nolan and quickly realized that Horatio was finding it a challenge to continue to speak civilly to someone he so obviously despised. Unobtrusively, she had squeezed his hand in understanding and quickly led him over to the designated table where they were assigned to sit with Chuck Thompson and a few others Horatio already knew and liked.

Fortunately, he and Lauren spent much of their evening with Chuck and his wife, Anita. Horatio, on past occasions, had enjoyed talking to Chuck, appreciating his gentle, self-deprecating wit, but this was the first time Horatio had met Anita. He discovered he particularly liked the handsome, heavily pregnant woman, and he found Chuck's sincere concern for his wife's comfort appealing.

Anita Thompson appeared to be slightly older than her husband, and Lauren had previously mentioned to Horatio that Anita and Chuck had been trying for several years to have a child. Happily, it now appeared that they were to be granted their wish in the next month or so. Anita was a very appealing woman with wise hazel eyes, good-natured features, and soft-looking mocha colored skin. She had the knowing appearance of a woman who wisely understood the well-meaning intentions of men, and who forgave them their foibles. Horatio liked her very much. Just a bit, her warmth and earth mother manner reminded him of his good friend, Alexx.

As the evening progressed, Horatio found himself looking over at the Mayor occasionally. He was fascinated by the Mayor's interaction with his children. Horatio was not surprised by much, but he found himself somewhat disarmed by the sincere affection O'Reilly displayed toward his two children. To a slight extent, it caused Horatio to revise his estimation of the Mayor; but only slightly. _Even wolves are protective of their young_, he had thought at the time. Still, there was no denying the apparent affection between father and children.

Watching the young people across the room, standing on either side of their mother and father, Horatio could readily see the tie that bound the Mayor to the vibrant young girl next to him; there was no mistaking the physical and temperamental similarity between the two. Horatio watched the girl as she charmed those standing near the Mayor. Her peals of silvery laughter were contagious, and she used her happy laughter to great affect, animatedly waving her hands about to underscore the verbal points she was making, her rings and bracelets dancing in the ballroom light. _Pretty girl_, thought Horatio. Papa O'Reilly looked on with approval as his daughter drew the happy notice of nearby guests. Yes, she was her father's daughter. The son was another matter.

Horatio watched young Daniel O'Reilly trying hard to appear comfortable among the roomful of politicos, staffers, socialites and other Miami movers and shakers. The boy stood near his mother, as if he could draw some strength from a fellow sufferer, but Kate O'Reilly looked preoccupied. Her face wore an expression that seemed tense and anxious to Horatio. He wondered if the look was due entirely to her discomfort at being center stage at the Gala, or if there was something else that caused the strained look around her mouth and eyes. Horatio gave up trying to figure it out and let the music of the orchestra wash over him.

All things considered, the night had three things going for it: Lauren, looking especially winsome in that silky gray dress; the wonderful selection of tantalizing foods not normally seen at these sorts of events; and a full orchestra playing, among other musical selections, some big band music.

As the orchestra segued into a medley of Glen Miller tunes, Horatio squired Lauren onto the dance floor. It had been quite some time since Horatio had enjoyed himself at such an affair, and the music and the dancing with Lauren were proving to be a pleasing distraction from listening to the obligatory speeches and watching the Mayor's preening, glad-handing around the ballroom. Earlier in the evening, he was even able to endure the few moments the Mayor had sat at his and Lauren's table. Horatio noted the Mayor's poorly concealed enjoyment of Horatio's mild discomfiture at having to sit through an event given on behalf of the Mayor's office. It had been easy to detect the laughter at his expense lurking in the depths of O'Reilly's sly eyes, and the knowing smirk on his face as he conversed with the lieutenant underscored the point.

Still, it was a fairly good evening overall. Only at one point did Horatio's internal antennae twitch a bit.

While he and Lauren danced to the strains of "_Moonlight Serenade_," he sensed her mind was suddenly elsewhere and he slightly pulled back from her in order to study her face as they moved about the ballroom floor in step with the music. He noticed her eyes watching the figure of a young Hispanic woman standing across the room. The Mayor was standing near her, and suddenly leaned in too close and laughingly whispered something in her ear that made the girl blush, and slowly disengage from him.

Seeing Lauren's interest in the two, Horatio had asked her what she made of that little scene, but Lauren didn't answer right away, and simply frowned, her brow knit with worry. Finally, she looked at Horatio with concern and told him the story of several days ago when an upset Maria had made an overwrought call to her sister. "I didn't exactly buy Mrs. Esteban's explanation that Maria was upset over her mother... it didn't fit at the time with Mrs. Esteban's worried tone."

"Well, our Mayor has a reputation for enjoying the company of pretty girls...," ventured Horatio. "Do you have reason to think he provoked the girl's anxiety in some way?"

"I don't know, Horatio... but the whole situation left me feeling unsettled."

Horatio followed Lauren's gaze over to where Mrs. O'Reilly was standing, watching her husband and Maria. Kate O'Reilly's face was unreadable, but her clasped hands were not, as they nervously clenched and unclenched. _This is a troubled lady_, he had thought at the time.

Yet, back at their table and engaged once again in conversation with the Thompsons, Horatio forgot about both the Mayor's wife and Maria. Chuck, looking rather anxious, excused himself from the table for a few moments, and Horatio, who watched him slip out a side door, took that time to learn more about Anita. The more he learned of the elegant woman, the more he enjoyed her company. She was a teacher at one of Miami's most prestigious schools for young girls, and her eyes warmed as she spoke of "her" girls and their accomplishments. Many of those girls were from impoverished backgrounds and were attending _Mary's Sacred Heart _on scholarship. Anita's eyes brimmed with enthusiasm as she spoke about the opportunities the girls would now have to forge better lives for themselves - better lives than their parents and grandparents had experienced. Anita possessed a giving heart, and Horatio considered how fortunate her students were, having such a caring woman as their teacher.

Abruptly Horatio's thoughts of the evening were terminated as Lauren's phone, laying on the nearby nightstand, began to urgently buzz.

"Good heavens!" came the sleepy voice next to him. "What time is it?"

"It's barely six, sweetheart. Go back to sleep and let the voice mail get it."

As the buzzing subsided, Lauren turned over and burrowed her head deeper into her pillow. Not five minutes later, the phone began to insistently buzz again. Giving up any idea of sleep, Lauren sighed grumpily and picked up her phone.

"This is Lauren. ...Mrs. Esteban? What's wrong?" Lauren sat up in bed suddenly. She turned toward Horatio, her face upset at what she was hearing. "Mrs. Esteban, please... Mrs. Esteban, please hold on."

Putting the call on hold, Lauren looked at Horatio with tears in her eyes.

"Lauren? Sweetheart? What's wrong?"

"It's Mrs. Esteban. She wants to get a message to you... she needs your help.

"Maria... Maria never arrived home last night, and she is not answering her cell phone. Horatio, what could have happened?"

_To be continued.  
><em>


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

The heat of the early morning sun was unseasonably warm for such an early spring day, even in Miami, and was a forewarning of the scorching temperatures to come as the day wore on. Harsh rays of sunlight radiated visibly against the old, deserted macadam road as well as the dusty, used Toyota parked off to the side. Two men knelt over the body of a young woman laying in the road a short distance from the dusty car.

"Any I.D. on the body, Doc?" asked the tall, balding man in the dark sunglasses.

"Just this," the other man said, handing over a small, embroidered handbag to him. "As you can see, there is a great deal of blood and dirt on the purse."

The balding man's gloved fingers gently opened the handbag, and he carefully removed a Florida driver's license from the interior. He looked at the name on the license as well as the photo and shook his head. "Damn. Horatio will hate hearing this." Studying the body, he shook his head once again. "Beautiful girl. A damned shame."

Pulling his phone out, he punched in a familiar number.

XXXXX

"Talk to me, Frank. What have you got?" Horatio was in his office, staring out the windows, seeing nothing, and felt his gut clench. He knew what Frank was going to tell him was not going to be good.

"The vic's license confirms she's your missing person... Maria Martinez. COD appears to be hit and run. Tom has the body."

Thinking of the grief that would be felt by Dolores Esteban when she learned the news of her young sister's death, Horatio tiredly rubbed a hand over his eyes.

"A passing motorist called it in. The girl was found on old Tucker Road, near her car. She must have gotten out of the car and was struck."

"Okay, Frank. I'll have Calleigh and Ryan take a look."

"Right." Frank hesitated, then added, "Listen, tell Lauren I'm sorry. This'll be hard news for her."

XXXXX

Dolores Esteban and her husband, Tomas, were seated in one of the crime lab's empty offices, waiting for Horatio. He had asked them to come to the MDPD Crime Lab, saying there had been a development. He hadn't wanted to give them the hard news over the phone. Instead, he was about to do something he had done too many times; he was going to tell a family once again that their loved one was dead.

Taking a deep breath, Horatio entered the office, and greeted the two distraught family members. Pulling a chair up close to them, he sat down and leaned forward, hands clasped, resting loosely between his knees, and began speaking softly.

"Mr. and Mrs. Esteban, we found Maria. I'm sorry to tell you the news isn't good."

Dolores began to cry silently and her shaken husband put his arm around her shoulders. "Lieutenant Caine, is Maria hurt? Is she in the hospital?" he asked.

Horatio shook his head and looked at them with sad eyes. He reached out for Mrs. Esteban's hand, as if to give her strength for the blow to come. "Dolores... um... may I call you 'Dolores?' "

She nodded yes, unable to speak, and Horatio gently continued. "Dolores... Maria was hit by a vehicle sometime in the early hours of the morning. I... I'm sorry to tell you that she didn't survive."

Dolores turned her head into Tomas' shoulder as her own shoulders began to shake with grief. Slowly, and with compassion, Horatio began to explain what he knew thus far - that Maria had been on a stretch of road that was generally deserted, that she had pulled the car off to the side of the road and gotten out of it, and at some point had been struck by an unknown driver, and then abandoned.

"But, Lieutenant," said Tomas after a few moments, "this makes no sense. This road where Maria was hit... it is not anywhere near her home. Why was she there? Why did she stop the car? Why did she get out of the car?"

"All good questions, Tomas. Questions that I have no answers to yet... but we will. We are going to find the answers to those questions."

Dolores raised her head from Tomas's shoulder and took Horatio's hand once again. Looking into his eyes, she decided he was a good man and that she would trust him. "Lt. Caine, please help us find out what happened to my sister. Help us," she said brokenly, "to understand. Maria... she didn't deserve this... to be left alone... to die alone... afraid... hurt."

Horatio squeezed her hand and looked at her steadily. "Ma'am, I promise you, we will find out what happened to Maria. We will get justice for her. I promise you that."

XXXXX

Calleigh wiped the perspiration from her brow as she surveyed the crime scene. The victim's lone Toyota looked bereft, sitting by the side of the road. Ryan was taking photographs of the skid marks left by the missing vehicle. It would seem the car abruptly sped off after hitting the girl.

Pulling her long blond hair up into a pony tail and then slipping on her latex gloves, Calleigh began her initial inspection of Maria's Toyota.

"Ryan, look at this," she said, circling the vehicle, and stopping to examine the back of it. "Looks like a car may have forced the girl off the road."

Kneeling down, Ryan looked closely at the dented bumper. "Yeah, looks like some paint residue here. Maybe our hit and run, huh? We'll get some scrapings to Trace." He continued taking several photos of the area as Calleigh opened the driver's side of the vehicle. In contrast to the dusty, faded exterior of the old, dark blue Toyota, the inside was neat and clean. "You know, Ryan, Ms. Martinez must have been OCD like you - look at the inside of this car. No coffee cups, no books, no CDs, no old parking receipts or candy wrappers. The interior of my car looks like a small bomb went off in it. This one is positively pristine. Heck, even the mats are spotless. Not going to find a lot here."

"I wouldn't be so quick to jump to that conclusion, Cal."

"Have you got something?" she asked eagerly.

Ryan had come around to the passenger side of the car and noticed the sun's rays glinting off something shiny that was laying under the seat, almost but not completely hidden. "Think so," he said, taking a few photos of the partially hidden object. Momentarily laying the camera aside, Ryan quickly donned a pair of gloves and reached for the object.

"A cigarette case?" Calleigh asked, looking at the slim object.

"Looks like it," he said, studying the silver case. "Appears to be some prints on it." Opening the case, he found several cigarettes still inside. More photographs ensued and then Ryan snapped the case closed and bagged the item for further study back at the lab.

"Let's get the car back to headquarters so it can be dusted, Calleigh. I don't know about you, but I could go for an ice cold Coke. God, what's with this weather? It isn't even April and it feels like July!"

Calleigh smiled. "Ever hear of a little thing called 'global warming?' "

Ryan frowned. He was hot, dusty, and thirsty, and he just wanted to get inside the air-conditioned Hummer. "Global warming," he said grumpily. "July temps in March and gigantic pythons taking over the 'Glades. When did this become the Equator?"

"Cheer up, sonny boy. Big sister will buy you a nice cold drink back at the lab. Now, get on the phone and get our people out here for the car."

XXXXX

Horatio and Frank pulled up in front of the Mayor's house. Neither officer was in a good mood. Horatio had received a call from MDPD Chief Edward Delgado that O'Reilly "requested" Caine visit him as soon as practicable.

"And 'practicable' means immediately, Lieutenant," the spineless Delgado had barked into the phone. "You've made a career out of being a thorn in the side of the Mayor. Whatever this girl's death has to do with the Mayor's Office, we know nothing for sure at this point. Don't go out of your way to antagonize him. We need him as much as he needs us - so watch it."

There had been more along that vein, but Horatio had let it pass in one ear and out the other. _Justice_, thought Horatio sardonically, _should never stand in the way of politics and the department's interest in its own self-preservation_.

The Mayor surprised them by opening the door himself and ushering them in. "Gentlemen," he said, nodding a greeting to them, "please come this way." He led them to an office at the back of the house, and indicated they should enter the room. Within, Nick Nolan was drinking coffee and conversing with another individual who had his back to them. When the man turned to face them, Horatio's digestion soured and he offered him a smile that was more of a grimace. "Well, Inspector O'Shay... I had no idea that you were such a trusted... friend... of our Mayor."

"Good afternoon, Lieutenant. Mayor O'Reilly suggested I might want to sit in on this meeting. I'm sure you have no objections...?"

"Hmm..." Horatio tilted his head and smiled unpleasantly at O'Shay. "None."

"What's this all about, Mayor?" Frank interjected.

Ignoring him, O'Reilly closed the door to the office behind him and turned to look directly at Horatio. "I know about Maria Martinez' tragic death. Dolores called me this morning. I'm stunned. I still can't believe that lovely girl is gone."

Studying him intently, Horatio raised an eyebrow. "I am sure it is a shock, Mayor. She worked frequently in your office, and she was at the Gala last evening."

"Yes, a terrible shock. Poor Dolores. Heart-broken, she is." O'Reilly paused before continuing. "Dolores told me that Maria was killed as a result of a hit and run accident."

"So it appears... at this time. The investigation is proceeding."

" 'At this time,' Lieutenant? I don't understand. Surely it was an accident. Someone hit the girl and, panicking, drove away. Do you think there is more to it?"

"We won't know that until we find the driver. But there are certain... questions... that need to be answered before this can be deemed an accidental death."

"What sort of questions, Caine?" asked Nolan.

Turning toward Nick, Horatio narrowed his eyes. "Why, Nick, I'd forgotten you were here. It's so hard to see you, hovering in the Mayor's shadow as you do." Horatio had the satisfaction of seeing Nolan flush deep red with anger.

Looking once again at the Mayor, he continued. "There are a number of questions that need to be answered. Ms. Martinez died on a deserted stretch of road that was nowhere near her home. And there are indications she may have been forced off the road. So... there are questions about this case.

"Tell me, sir... what was your relationship with Ms. Martinez?"

O'Shay and Nolan began to object to the question simultaneously.

"Lieutenant Caine, are you implying that the Mayor is a suspect in this case?" Nolan demanded.

"Watch it, Lieutenant... you have no basis for asking that question," began O'Shay.

Ignoring Nolan, Horatio interrupted O'Shay. "It's a fair question, Inspector. Ms. Martinez worked in the Mayor's office. There have been... rumors... that he took an interest in the girl."

O'Reilly's face darkened with rage. "Caine, I object to these unfounded insinuations! Maria was my assistant's sister and she worked occasionally in the office. I authorized her hours in the office to help my assistant with the workload AND to help Maria earn some money for her schooling. There was nothing else between us."

"Mr. Mayor, I was at the Gala last evening and observed you with her. You said something to that girl that made her deeply uncomfortable... and I watched her try to walk away from you."

O'Reilly's blue eyes frosted over with malice as he looked at Horatio. "Caine, you are drawing unwise conclusions."

"Sir, did you go right home after the Gala last night? And did you stay there? And can your statements be corroborated?"

O'Shay spoke up. "Mayor, you do not have to answer those questions at this time."

"Shut up, Scotty," he snapped. "Listen to me, Caine. I don't know anything about this girl's death. Do NOT try to drag me down with this. After the Gala, I went home with my wife and did not leave the house all night. She can back me up on this.

"I won't stand idly by while you attempt to destroy my political future. I called you here today to try to figure out how much of a hard ass you were going to be about this. Now I know.

"Do not cross me, Lieutenant. I am not a man to be discounted when it comes to my ability to strike back."

"Are you threatening us, Mayor?" asked Frank. "Standing in the way of an investigation and tossing threats at us is not going to benefit you in the long run. Trust me on that."

Never taking his eyes from Horatio, O'Reilly replied, "And YOU trust me on this: if you go after me and hound me on this girl's death, I will make life very unpleasant for you."

Horatio met his gaze squarely and smiled. "Not half as unpleasant as I'm going to make it for you, Mr. Mayor, if you have any involvement with Ms. Martinez' death."

XXXXX

Nolan escorted them out of the house, lingering in the front yard for a moment. "You're being a jerk, Caine. O'Reilly had nothing to do with that girl's death."

"That 'girl,' Nick, has a name. Her name was Maria. She was someone you worked with. Someone you knew."

"Alright, alright... 'Maria.' Whatever. The point is that you're making a powerful enemy and for no reason. He did not hurt the girl."

"And how do you know that, Nick? Perhaps you'd like to tell us where you were last night after the Gala ended?"

"Oh, so now I'm the suspect? Well, Lieutenant, I'll save you some leg work. I had a couple of drinks at the hotel bar. I know the bartender, Keith Wilson. I had a few and talked with him til one of the servers got off work. Then I went home with her for the night. Her name is Adrienne Carey. You can check my story with Keith and Adrienne."

"I will, Nick. Depend on it."

XXXXX

The three men did not notice that they were being watched with interest from behind the lace curtain of a second story window. Uneasily observing them, a pair of shaking hands lit a cigarette and slowly brought it up to nervous lips.

_To be continued._


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

"Are you okay, Lauren?" Horatio's voice over the phone was freighted with concern. He had rightly surmised that Maria's death would upset Lauren.

"I'm fine, Horatio," she responded sadly. "Poor Mrs. Esteban! How hard this is going to be for her! I can't quite take it in... that someone I know... knew... died under suspicious circumstances.

"Oh, Horatio!" she finished, miserably.

"Lauren, I know you're upset..."

"I can't help wondering," she interrupted, "if there was something I should have done. When she called the office that day, so upset, what did we miss?"

"There is nothing you could have done. Don't take on guilt not meant to be yours to carry, okay?"

Lauren fell silent for a moment. She wasn't sure how to tell Horatio her own news, and worried if she was being fair in burdening him with it when he had other matters on his mind.

"You're very quiet, sweetheart. I don't want you worrying that you should have done something when it wasn't your problem to address."

Making up her mind, Lauren began to tell Horatio about her phone conversation earlier in the day with Jack O'Reilly.

XXXXX

_The Mayor had started the conversation friendly enough, but that had quickly changed._

_"Lauren, I just had a meeting with Lieutenant Caine, and it was not a satisfactory one."_

_Confused, Lauren repeated, "Horatio? You had a meeting with Horatio?"_

_"That's right. It was about Maria Martinez."_

_"What did he want with you?"_

_"Apparently, he has suspicions I was involved in some way with Maria. And I was not! But here's the thing, Lauren, you need to convince the lieutenant to keep my administration out of this. I had nothing to do with that girl, and I don't want him dragging my name through the mud on this. Talk to him, Lauren, and help him see that this witch-hunt he has undertaken is a dead end. Use your influence to make him see the futility of it."_

_"Jack, I can't do that. Horatio is never going to steer an investigation in a certain way to make others more comfortable! That isn't who he is!_

_"Besides, Horatio is fair. If you tell him you weren't involved with Maria, he will check your story out and, if it checks out, he will close that part of the investigation. He won't drag the office through the mud just on a vendetta."_

_Lauren felt the Mayor's resentment of her defense of Horatio emanating through the airwaves._

_"You'd be wise to listen to me, Lauren: call him off! I want him to back off NOW. I am not going to stand by and do nothing while he makes things awkward for me."_

_"Jack, you're being unfair; there is nothing I can do about this!"_

_A moment of silence went by. Finally, in measured tones, O'Reilly said, "Perhaps it would be a good idea if you took a leave of absence for awhile. Go home, see your family."_

_Stunned, she objected. "I can't go now... with the campaign... and with everything else that is happening. You'll need me. The media is going to have a lot of questions... "_

_"Which we will address," he said smoothly. "Except you won't be the one doing so."_

_"Why are you doing this? Because I can't make Horatio do as you wish?"_

_"Because you won't even try. Your loyalties are divided. Do you seriously think I can have the girlfriend of the man making allegations against me appearing in front of the media on my behalf?"_

_"Are you firing me, Jack?"_

_The Mayor said nothing for several seconds. "What I am doing is giving you an opportunity to visit your family... and to think about your future with me. In the meantime, Nick will handle the press._

_"Think carefully about this, Lauren. You are either with me... or against me. I always demand total loyalty from the people who work for me. With me, there is no in between."_

XXXXX

Lauren finished telling Horatio about the conversation with the Mayor and waited for his expression of outrage. But Horatio said nothing.

Upset, she said to him, "Well, don't you have anything to say?"

Sighing audibly, Horatio tried to find the words to express to Lauren what he thought, knowing she wasn't going to like it. "Lauren, I can't say I'm surprised that he tried to use you to get my cooperation. It's what he does. What is surprising is that you're so shocked at his strong-arm tactics. And... that you don't see the conflict in working for O'Reilly while I'm involved in this case."

"Horatio! Are you saying that you agree with him?"

"I don't agree with his coming down on you with threats and trying to coerce you into persuading me to ignore any part he might play in the investigation. But... I am relieved on a certain level that he is removing you from the 'eye of the hurricane.' I don't want you to get hurt by any of the fallout connected with this case.

"Someone had something to do with Maria's death. And until I figure out what is going on, I'd rather you weren't in a situation that could become dangerous. While not his intention, he actually did you a favor."

"Doesn't much feel like a favor," she replied morosely, "being dismissed and told to go home to your parents."

"Think of it as an unexpected opportunity to spend some time at home. It will be good for you... and it will keep you out of the center of the storm while I work the case."

Grudgingly, she saw the wisdom of his words, but still felt conflicted about the leave of absence. After a few half-hearted attempts to discuss other matters, Lauren started to say goodby. Horatio felt badly for her, knowing how excited she'd been to get the job with the Mayor.

"Hey, sweetheart, why don't I stop by for a bit after I finish up here today?"

Touched at the concern in his voice, she reluctantly demurred. "I'm fine, honey. Just tired. If you don't mind, I think I'll take a rain check and make an early night of it. Okay?"

She did sound tired to Horatio, so he didn't press her. Terminating the connection, Horatio shook his head sadly.

XXXXX

_Well_, thought Natalie Boa Vista, _what do we have here_? With gloved fingers, she reached into the small trash receptacle in Maria Martinez's pretty little pink and white bathroom and pulled out an object: an over-the-counter pregnancy kit. The box was empty of its contents so Nat searched further among the refuse. Nothing. _Damn_, she thought, placing the box in an evidence bag. _Guess we better have Tom check for possible pregnancy_.

Walking across the upstairs hallway of the modest house, Natalie entered Maria's bedroom. Eric sat at the little desk near the bed where Maria's laptop resided. With a frown of concentration, Eric was searching the machine for calendar appointments, past search history and email.

"Find anything interesting?" she asked him.

"A couple things. Most of her calendar entries relate to school or scheduled work days. But she did meet up with a "Stu D" on Thursday. Look." Eric turned the laptop toward Nat who read the entry: _**7:00 pm - KO / Stu D / MMC**_

"Hmm... wonder who Stu is? Anything in her email from him?"

"Not by name," said Eric, "but there were a few emails to someone that she seemed awfully anxious to talk with in person." He scrolled through various emails, finding the one he was interested in.

_**I haven't heard from you. Please, I must see you. You know how I feel. I care too much to cause you trouble. I just need your help. Please let me know when you can meet me. Please, mi querido, this is important.  
><strong>_  
>"Think that could be for this Stu person?" Eric asked.<p>

"Maybe. I found a pregnancy kit... perhaps she was pregnant and trying to let this Stu know."

"Well, let's have Tom do a pregnancy test, and try to track down Stu's last name and address."

XXXXX

Horatio suddenly looked up from the papers on his desk to focus on the person knocking on the glass door to his office. Recognizing Chuck Thompson, Horatio smiled with pleasure and beckoned him in.

"Chuck, what are you doing here?" he asked Lauren's kind-looking co-worker.

"Horatio, I'm sorry to trouble you, but I had to see you. I heard about Maria Martinez. This is terrible... terrible. Anita and I are so upset. I've been working with this girl for several months. I just can't take it in, Horatio. Maria was such a good kid... hard worker... sweet. How does something like this happen to good people?"

"Chuck, calm down and have a seat. You drink coffee, Chuck? How about a cup of coffee? Here, sit over here." Concerned about the unsteadiness in Chuck's bearing, Horatio helped the somber-eyed man to a chair. "Wait here for a minute, okay?"

Horatio stepped outside his office for a moment and flagged down a passing technician, requesting a couple of coffees with his most charming smile. The smitten technician blushed prettily, and promised she'd be right back with the coffee.

Horatio returned to his office and leaned against the edge of his desk, studying Chuck with concern. The man didn't look well. "Are you okay, Chuck? Is Anita okay?"

Chuck took a steadying breath, trying to get his thoughts under control. "I'm sorry, man. Anita's good I... I'm just having trouble getting my head around this. I liked that girl. She was sweet. Who could want to hurt someone like her? She never hurt anyone. She'd once in awhile watch my kids when Anita and I went out for an evening."

That startled Horatio. "I didn't think you and Anita had any children, Chuck."

Chuck smiled sadly, "That's true. This baby that Anita is carrying is our first. I was married before.

"My first wife died. We'd been married for about eight years when she became ill. She had ovarian cancer... it was bad. I was a mess when she died. Scared, depressed... left alone with two little girls who were missing their mama. Sometimes, I thought I was going to go crazy."

A soft knock on the glass signaled the coffee had arrived. Horatio thanked the young woman and took the coffee from her, handing a cup to Chuck.

Gazing into the black liquid as if an answer could be found there, Chuck softly continued. "I met Anita about a year after Tracey, my wife, died. She was so kind... understanding." A sweet smile suddenly broke out on his face as he looked up at Horatio. "My girls loved her from the start. She has a way with kids... they just open up to her. She soothed their fears and became a nurturing presence in their lives. Mine too. Anita is a special woman; it is humbling that some one like Anita cares for me. Humbling... and wonderful."

Horatio nodded, watching Chuck sip the hot liquid. He agreed with Chuck that Anita was a terrific woman. _What is going on here?_ Horatio wondered. _Why is Chuck so troubled? Does he know something?_

"Chuck," he said gently, "why are you here? What can I do for you, my friend?"

Chuck's sad, mournful eyes looked deeply into those of Horatio. "Do you have any idea who did this? Why they did it? Please tell me... do you know if she suffered? Please tell me that Maria didn't suffer!"

"Chuck, can you think of anyone in the Mayor's office who might have been upset with Maria? Or anyone she might have had a special friendship with?"

"Everyone liked Maria."

"What about O'Reilly... or Nolan? Did you ever observe anything there?"

"Listen to me: Maria was a good, sweet girl. She was not involved with Nick or Jack. She wasn't the type. Everyone liked her. You want verification? Talk to Kate O'Reilly."

Horatio's eyes sharpened. "Why Mrs. O'Reilly?"

"Because she and Kate had become friendly. Maria used to help Dolores with scheduling Kate's board activities for the Miami Music Conservatory. Like Kate, Maria liked classical music and it became a bond of sorts between them."

"That's very interesting, Chuck. Thank you."

XXXXX

True to her word, Lauren had decided to make an early night of it. It was only late afternoon, but Lauren had already showered. Dressed in sweat pants and soft cotton tee-shirt, her long blond hair swept haphazardly up into a pony-tail, she was laying on the sofa, half-heartedly watching an old movie on television when her attention was diverted by the ringing of her doorbell.

Sighing with irritation, Lauren answered the door, surprised to see Nick Nolan standing in the hall. In one hand he held a bottle of wine, in the other a small bouquet of spring flowers.

"Nick! What are you doing here?"

"I come, dear lady, bearing wine and daffodils as a peace offering. May I come in?"

Looking at him quizzically, Lauren allowed him to step through the door.

XXXXX

"Tom, what do you have for me?" Horatio asked the medical examiner, who was completing his final observation of the body.

"Lieutenant, the victim's body has no signs of semen or sexual trauma. Findings indicate that the young lady sustained a fatal injury to the back of her skull. The injury from the vehicle that hit her was superfluous."

"Tom, are you telling me that Ms. Martinez was dead prior to being struck by the car?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. Look at this."

Tom directed Horatio's attention to the dark coloring underneath the right side of Maria's chin. Looking closely at the girl's skin, Horatio spied an imprint that was shaped as a "**V**" laying on its side.

"What is this, Tom?"

"It appears to be the imprint from something that struck the girl."

"Hmm... maybe from a ring," ventured Horatio. "If someone struck her with significant force, it could have caused her to fall backward, hitting her head. The question is, whose ring is that?"

Horatio thought silently for a few moments. Something was nagging at the back of his mind, but he was unable to bring it to the forefront.

Moving on for the moment, Horatio commented, "So the perpetrator hits Maria, and... what? Panics? Did he hit Maria's body in his haste to get away? That would seem to indicate the perp was not an experienced killer. Crime of passion?"

"There is something else, Horatio. We tested for pregnancy. The results are positive. DNA profile is being worked up and should be ready in a few hours."

"Positive for pregnancy... well, that is interesting. Okay. Thank you, Doctor."

XXXXX

Horatio was on his way home, mentally turning off the events of the day. He would tackle them tomorrow, when his exhausted mind was fresh. Paused at a stoplight, Horatio glanced over at the Chick-Fil-A drive-thru across the street. He smiled as he remembered Lauren's enthusiasm for their chicken noodle soup.

He was suddenly struck with the idea of picking up some soup for her and stopping by to deliver it. She had sounded so forlorn over the phone. Maybe some comfort food would cheer her a bit, he thought. Although the truth was that Horatio really wanted to see her. He hadn't liked the way their earlier phone conversation had ended, in spite of his relief that O'Reilly had temporarily removed Lauren from his staff. He wanted to reassure her that things would work out.

Having made up his mind, Horatio decisively moved his car over to the next lane and turned his car toward the restaurant's drive-thru.

_To be continued._


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN**

Lauren handed Nolan a glass of wine as she seated herself on the overstuffed chair across from the sofa where Nolan sat. She watched him looking around her condo with an expression of keen interest on his face. Noticing on a side table a faded photograph of a young girl sporting long, blond pigtails with an older man wearing a straw hat with a red, white and blue ribbon around the brim, he smiled. "Is that you with your grandfather, the famous 'Big Bill Chambers?'" he asked teasingly. "You have spoken so much of him, I feel like I know him."

"It is. I was about eleven years old when that photo was taken. I was helping him give out campaign literature in front of the voters polling place in our old neighborhood. I think it was one of the primary elections. Grandpa used to work every election day, handing out flyers to the voters as they approached the polling place. When I became old enough, he let me help him. He said I was his partner." Nick noticed a sweet, wistful smile on her face as she recalled working with her grandfather. It was clear that she had some hero worship for the old man.

"When you interviewed for the position with us, Lauren, I was struck by your stories of your family's longtime activism in the community. Your enthusiasm really affected Jack. It was one of the things that cemented our decision to hire you. We were excited about having you on the team."

Lauren took a sip of the wine, looking at him neutrally. "Yes, well, I was excited then too, Nick."

"Hmm... past tense, huh?"

"You know that Jack has removed me from the campaign. It has put a bit of a damper on my enthusiasm at present," she replied sarcastically, regretting her harsh tone almost immediately.

"Be fair. What else could he do? He can't have you before the media if questions arise as a result of your boyfriend's dogged pursuit of the Mayor."

"If you're going to be angry with someone," he continued, "be angry with Caine. He's the one who put you in this spot by his clumsy handling of Jack this morning, drilling him like he was a suspect in the case... even though he had an alibi. He really set Jack off."

"Horatio was doing his job!" she angrily interjected.

"Okay, and now the Mayor is doing his: he is temporarily removing you from a visible role in the office until this thing blows over. He doesn't need the added... um... 'interest' that Caine's girlfriend brings to the administration during the investigation."

"...and when the investigation is over?" she asked pointedly.

"Lauren, your future with the Mayor is entirely up to you. You need to do some careful consideration of what's important to you. You have an opportunity to work for the future governor of the State of Florida, to be part of the inner circle. Do you really want to jeopardize your career by continuing your involvement with Caine? Frankly, I don't think he's worth it."

Annoyed, Lauren hotly replied, "My relationship with Horatio Caine is not your business, Nick!"

"But you're wrong, Lauren. Jack and all of us have a stake in this. Your relationship compromises the office and the campaign as long as Caine's antipathy for the Mayor defines his actions toward us."

Nick took a moment to appraise the angry Lauren. He could see his words had hit a nerve with her; her normal response toward him was to dismiss his remarks with good-natured teasing or to treat him like an amusing bad boy. She sure wasn't amused at the moment! Not for the first time, he found himself wishing he could rouse the same passion in Lauren that Caine did. It puzzled him that she seemed so committed to the guy; she was a beautiful woman and usually brimming with cheer and positive energy. He viewed Caine as a dour, dyspeptic fellow, and a lot older than Lauren. He could never figure out the attraction.

"Tell me something, Lauren: what do you see in the guy? Does he really mean so much to you that you are going to risk losing a job you wanted so badly?"

With great deliberation, Lauren looked into Nolan's eyes. "Hear me on this, Nick, okay? Horatio is very important to me and if the Mayor ever again tries to force me into influencing Horatio to go against his instincts or his conscience, Jack O'Reilly won't have to force me into taking another leave of absence - I will walk away. Did he send you here to work on me?"

"My, but you have a suspicious nature!"

Raising an eyebrow, Lauren gazed at him with skepticism. "In the short time I've worked with you and Jack, I've seen how the two of you operate."

"Scout's honor, I only came to offer you some words of advice and commiserate with you. Come on, you know how much I like you. I just want to be friends."

She looked at him disbelievingly.

"Okay, so maybe I want to be a bit more than just friends," he said with what he hoped was his best bad-boy charm.

"Nick, that isn't going to happen. I am in a committed relationship with Horatio."

"Well, I don't see any ring on your finger."

"Nevertheless, it's true."

Before Nick could respond to that, there was a knock on Lauren's door. As Nick sat back, gazing at the contents in his wine glass, Lauren opened it. Surprised, she saw Horatio standing before her with a bag in his hands.

"Hello, sweetheart," he said, leaning forward to plant a quick kiss on her lips. Taking in her casual appearance, he smiled warmly and handed her the bag. "You sounded so sad when we spoke earlier today that I thought some chicken soup and a little comfort was called for by the doctor. I know you said you were tired, but I really wanted to see you. I won't stay long if you really want to be alone."

Before Lauren could apprise Horatio of Nolan's presence, Horatio heard the voice he disliked so much: "Lieutenant, come in; join the party! Would you like a glass of wine?"

Startled, Horatio looked beyond Lauren and saw Nolan lounging on Lauren's sofa. He was wearing the too-familiar impudent look on his handsome face that always made Horatio want to slug him. Seeing the wine glasses on Lauren's table didn't exactly improve Horatio's mood. Moving quickly past Lauren, he walked over to the lounging Nolan.

"Get up. Now." Horatio's voice was deadly quiet.

Nick Nolan was many things and some of them not very admirable. What he wasn't, however, was a coward, and he disliked Caine as much as the feeling was reciprocated. "Excuse me, Lieutenant, but you don't live here."

Hands on his hips, head tilted slightly to the side, Horatio offered Nick a biting smile. In measured tones, he repeated, "Nick, I just told you to get up. Now, you have a choice here: you can stand up on your own power - or I will be only too happy to render you some assistance."

Lauren had closed the door but was standing doubtfully beside it. She had never seen this side of Horatio before and she wasn't sure how to react to it. It disturbed her. "Horatio?" she ventured, uncertainly.

"Be quiet, Lauren," he said tightly, not removing his eyes from Nick, who was now standing and glaring at Horatio with hatred. His attention focused on Nolan, Horatio missed the sudden flash of hurt in Lauren's eyes at his peremptory dismissal of her.

"Now that you're standing, Nick, why don't you walk yourself out that door?"

"And why don't you go work a case, pal? Things were going along very well before you came. Lauren and I were having a nice conversation and some wine. In fact, it was just great before you walked in so maybe YOU should be the one walking out that door!"

Horatio, still wearing that sarcastic little smile, looked down for a moment, shook his head resignedly, and lifting his head once more pinned Nick with his eyes. "Nick, you do NOT want to play games with me today. Listen to me: get... out... now. And do not ever come back to Lauren's home again. Because, Nick, if you do, I will not be so polite the next time. I will bodily throw you out.

"Now get out of here."

Angry, but realizing he had pushed Horatio as far as he should, Nick started toward the door. On his way out, just to irritate Horatio and to recover his bruised pride, Nick pressed a casual kiss on Lauren's cheek, saying, "See you around, love."

"Just go, please," she said, and closed the door after him.

After closing the door, Lauren abruptly turned around to face Horatio, her eyes blazing. "How dare you!" she demanded. "How dare you come into my home and go all cave man on me!"

Just as angry, Horatio fired back at her. "What was he doing here, Lauren? Don't you have any judgment at all? We don't know if he has any involvement with Maria's murder. It was dangerous and foolish of you to let him in here."

"Oh, please!" she exclaimed. "You said his alibi for the night Maria was murdered checked out."

"That doesn't mean he might not still be involved in some way or know something. Or that he might not be dangerous. I don't want him here. I don't want you seeing him alone. In fact, I don't want you to see him at all."

"You're being ridiculous," Lauren said, still smarting over Horatio's having told her to be quiet a few moments ago. "AND you're acting like an oaf."

"And you're being naive at best. And what is with the wine? When I spoke with you earlier today, you were too tired to have company. Did Nolan change your energy level?"

Horatio knew he was making a bad situation worse, but he was very angry with Lauren for her seeming disregard for her own safety as well as what he saw as a lack of common sense. Adding fuel to the fire was his dislike of Nolan, whom he knew to be attracted to Lauren, and his irritation that she tolerated the sleaze-ball.

"You are way off base here, Horatio! That 'energy level' remark is uncalled for. I had no idea Nick was coming over - do I look like I'm dressed for a romantic evening? And I could have gotten Nick to leave without your little fit of passion! But no, you had to come charging in here like the U.S. Cavalry... like you own the place... like you own me!"

"I was trying to look after you," he said angrily.

"No, you were trying to control me. There's a difference! You do NOT tell me who I can see or who I can be friends with. I am a grown woman. You are not my father! ...or my husband."

Several seconds passed as they stood quietly, looking at each other, both angry and trying to keep from saying more things they would later regret.

Finally, turning away, Lauren said, "I think you should go."

Coldly, he replied, "I think so too."

And did.

_To be continued._


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

The next morning...

Walking briskly down the hallway toward his office, Horatio cast his eyes downward determinedly, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone. He was in a foul mood, and he acknowledged it to himself as he opened the door to his office. Firmly closing the door behind him, he approached his desk, noting the envelope laying there, sealed and stamped "**CONFIDENTIAL**."

He crumbled the envelope's sticky tape into a ball and was about to toss it into the trash basket beneath his desk when a mild oath escaped his lips. Again the evening cleaning crew forgot to empty the basket and yesterday's refuse was still there. A small thing, but given his already bad mood, it added to Horatio's annoyance with the day. His eyes noted the water bottle he'd tossed before leaving the office yesterday, some old post-it notes, a few unimportant memos, and the discarded styrofoam coffee cup used by Chuck when he had come into the office to see Horatio earlier that afternoon.

Horatio sat back in his chair and swiveled around to face the glass windows behind the desk. His elbows planted on the armrests of the chair, Horatio steepled his clasped fingers and leaned his chin on them, gazing out at the front grounds of the Crime Lab without really seeing them. He was troubled, not only by the case, but by the argument last evening with Lauren. With regard to the case, Horatio felt there was a connection he should be making, but it was just whispering around the edges of conscious thought, refusing to emerge into something coherent.

Focusing once more on the blow-up with Lauren, his feelings took a querulous turn. In his heart, Horatio admitted to himself how much he'd come to care about her. Along with his boy, she had come to take center stage in his life. But at the moment, he was so angry with her that he decided some distance was in order... to give them both a chance to come to terms with the altercation that had arisen out of Nolan's visit to Lauren.

A very real part of Horatio wanted desperately to pick up the phone and call Lauren and tell her he was sorry, to explain why he'd reacted the way he had. However, the vain, wounded part of him wanted Lauren to make that first move, to show him how important he was to her.

_How mature is that? _he wondered. Still, he was only human... and like all men and women, he had his own insecurities and needs.

Truth to tell, Lauren had hurt him greatly with her throwaway remark that he was not her "father." _Is that how she saw him?_ Horatio seldom allowed his thoughts to dwell on the age difference between them. When he had begun seeing Lauren casually, it hadn't mattered. But now? Now that his heart belonged to her, it had begun to matter a great deal. And, when he did allow himself to think about it, he realized the difference would become more pronounced as the years went by.

Still, she seemed happy with him... and seemed to need him as much as he needed her. But what experiences was she denying herself by being involved with a much older man?

Horatio's thoughts turned darkly toward the ten years younger, handsome Nolan. _He is a charmer,_ thought Horatio disconsolately. _A charming snake!_

Horatio believed much of his dislike for Nolan was predicated on what Horatio saw as his calculating and self-serving nature: Horatio had met his type before and trusted him as far as he could throw him. But the fact that Nolan seemed intent on making a play for Lauren made Horatio positively hate him. Still, Horatio realized he had allowed himself to be played by Nolan. He'd reacted angrily to Nolan's unexpected presence in Lauren's home, uncharacteristically allowing his emotions to get the better of him without weighing the consequences. As a result, he had lashed out at both Lauren and Nolan, and it now seemed to Horatio that Nolan was appearing the 'wronged' man in Lauren's eyes.

It made Horatio's head hurt to think about it, and he swiveled his chair back around toward the desk, resolutely pushing the thoughts from his mind, and began to open the envelope facing him.

The file within was marked

**MARTINEZ, MARIA YOLANDA**  
><strong>Date of Birth: April 23, 1991<br>Female, Hispanic  
>SS# 5554-22-4445<br>**  
>Opening the file, Horatio began to read bits and pieces of the summary of the case thus far. Pregnancy confirmed - six weeks. The baby's father unknown - unable to match DNA in the system. Several photos were in the file, and Horatio noted the photo of the silver cigarette case which contained prints; again, no match in the system.<p>

The photo of Maria's face with its emphasis on the side-ways "**V**" imprinted on her skin just under the chin again caught Horatio's attention. _What was it about that imprint?_

The chips of paint retrieved from Maria's bumper and likely from the vehicle that had struck her car were unhelpful. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about the black-colored chips... they would only be helpful if the damaged car was found and the chips could be matched to the vehicle.

A cryptic calendar event: _KO / Stu D / MMC_. Horatio wondered who Stu D might be. _What did KO stand for? Kate O'Reilly? _Horatio recalled Chuck's remarks that the two had developed a friendship.

Something in the report then jumped out at Horatio: utilizing the IP code, Eric had been able to track down the individual to whom Maria had sent the urgent email messages. Horatio felt rather sick as he read the identification - J. Charles Thompson, 3320 Palmetto Court...

_Chuck... oh, Chuck! _he thought, sadly. Horatio's troubled thoughts went to Anita and how this was going to hurt her. Rubbing his temples and closing his eyes, Horatio's bleak mood worsened.

He finally looked up to see Frank heading toward the glass door of his office. Motioning him in, Horatio shared the information with Frank.

"You want me to go and pick him up, Horatio?"

Horatio thought silently for several moments. "No, I don't think so. I am going to call him and ask him to come in. He'll come."

"Pretty sure of that, are you?"

"Yes, I am, Frank. What I would like you to do, however, is bring Mrs. Katherine O'Reilly in. I want to know how friendly she was with Maria... "

"You think she had something to do with this?"

"I don't know, Frank, but I intend to find out."

Frank nodded and left Horatio alone in his office, deep in thought. After several moments, Horatio withdrew a pack of sterile gloves from his desk drawer and slipped a pair on. He bent down under his desk and pulled the trash basket forward, and, rummaging around, retrieved Chuck's coffee cup. Sighing, he got up from his desk and walked out of his office, with the cup in his gloved hand.

"Miss Valera," said Horatio, entering Maxine's work area. "I need you to run a check on this cup to see if DNA can be recovered. And then I want you to check it against the DNA composition of the Martinez fetus. I'd like the results sooner rather than later, please."

Valera looked at her boss searchingly, and decided to make the testing a priority. He had that aggrieved look that Valera had come to recognize: someone had crossed him and was in big trouble. Whoever it was, Valera didn't envy the individual.

As Horatio was walking away, his phone began to buzz. Recognizing the number, he answered, "Hello, Alexx."

"Good morning, Horatio," Alexx Woods said cheerfully. "Where are we meeting for lunch today?"

"Today?" he asked absently, his mind still focused on Thompson.

"Yes, TODAY," Alexx remarked with mock severity. "Don't tell me you've forgotten we're having lunch today, Lieutenant."

Sheepishly, Horatio admitted as much, and asked if they could reschedule, using the investigation as the reason.

"No way, Horatio! This is the third time we've rescheduled this lunch. And don't give me that "investigation" excuse. You gotta eat, don'tcha, sugar?"

"Alexx, I am afraid I would not be very good company today."

"Problems, Horatio?"

"Something like that."

"All the more reason to take a break outside the lab. No excuses, Horatio. You can spare 30 minutes or so for a quick sandwich."

Realizing that continuing to resist Alexx was futile, he wearily acquiesced and made plans to meet her in the little park not far from the Crime Lab.

XXXXX

Lauren was going through the clothes in her closet, deciding which items to pack for her trip. She had managed to book a flight to Baltimore for 3:00 that afternoon, and knew she had to step up her packing if she was going to make it. Still, she found herself desultorily discarding one article of clothing after another, her usual enthusiasm for a trip home missing.

It was more than the abrupt "temporary" dismissal from the Mayor that had sapped her spirits. While that smarted and still upset her, she agreed with Horatio's assessment that as things stood, it was probably for the best.

_Horatio! _He was the real reason for Lauren's lack of enthusiasm. While the two of them had experienced differences of opinion from time to time, they had never had a major fight before. Lauren had been so angry with him after the showdown with Nick; and she had let him know it!

Thinking back on her words and how she had called him an oaf, she had the grace to blush. And she regretted both her words and her tone last evening.

She loved Horatio... but he had frightened her when he went from being charming with her at the door and then cold and commanding with Nick in the next few seconds. She had sensed a tamped down anger within him, and it wasn't something she'd witnessed before in her gentle lover. Worse still had been the way he had dismissed her tentative approach toward him with a curt command to be quiet. Not only had that hurt, but it had humiliated her in front of Nick.

She knew she should still be righteously angry with Horatio, but instead she felt woebegone and rather lost. The frozen way he had responded to her remark that he should leave her condo last night had chilled her. She had been heatedly angry, but Horatio had been frigid in his anger. Angry passion she knew how to answer; but she was ill-prepared for his coldness, which she found more hurtful somehow. She wanted to call Horatio, to make it up between the two of them... but she wasn't sure she was completely in the wrong. And she wasn't sure how to approach him - she just didn't know the Horatio who had left her condo last night.

Should she have handled things differently with Nick? She hadn't felt endangered by his presence in her home. In retrospect, she understood how things must have looked to Horatio, the wine glasses, the ease with which Nick comported himself in her living room. She knew, too, Horatio disliked Nick.

She recalled how sweet Horatio had been in the few seconds before he had the meltdown, showing up at her door with the soup, wanting to spend time with her because he knew how depressed she was by Jack's dismissal of her. And, belatedly, she now realized that Nick had purposely baited Horatio with his demeanor and his words.

_Was it me? _she considered. _Was I at fault? Instead of blowing up at him after Nick left, should I have talked with him, tried to figure out with him what made him act that way?_

Finished, finally, with her packing, she looked at the suitcase in confusion. She wondered if she should call Horatio and tell him she had a flight home today. She certainly wanted to call him.

_Will he care? _she wondered sadly.

_To be continued._


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

"Dolores, did Maria ever mention to you anyone by the name of Stu... or Stuart?" Horatio listened intently to the response. He had decided another call to Maria's sister was in order although he hated putting the grieving woman through more questioning.

"I understand, Dolores, but there was a calendar entry on Maria's computer in which someone named Stu was referenced... do you recall if she ever spoke specifically of any men whose last names began with a 'D' ?" Horatio frowned. Mrs. Esteban knew nothing about anyone named Stu or anyone special with the sort of last name Horatio was asking about.

"Did Maria get along well with Mayor O'Reilly's wife?" He rubbed the back of his neck wearily and listened as Dolores emotionally told him of the kindness Kate O'Reilly had shown her sister, of the shared interest in music, of the heartfelt call of condolence she had made to Dolores as soon as she'd learned of Maria's death. Horatio began to get the impression that Dolores viewed the Mayor's wife with affection and saw her actions toward Maria as maternal.

"And what were her relationships with her co-workers? Did she ever voice any worries about any of them?"

Nodding slowly, he paid careful attention as Dolores spoke of Maria's shyness and unease around the mayor and the verbally biting Nolan, and her attempts to stay as far as possible from both of them while working in the office.

"What about Chuck Thompson? Did she ever indicate any concerns about him?" The bewildered lady couldn't think of anything specific concerning Chuck; he was friendly, made she and Maria laugh with his jokes, and would share stories about his little girls with them. Maria had felt comfortable around him, had watched his little girls once or twice, but aside from that, she had never spoken much about him to Dolores.

Gently ending the call with Dolores Esteban and feeling he had learned little, a frustrated Horatio picked up the folder on his desk, left his office and walked toward the interrogation room. He had called Chuck earlier and asked that he come in. When Chuck had asked why, Horatio had merely replied that he wanted to get Chuck's insight into some things that bothered him about the case. He could sense Chuck's nervousness as he agreed to see Horatio. When he'd arrived, Horatio had instructed an officer that Chuck be escorted into one of the interrogation rooms until he could see him.

As he prepared to join Chuck, Valera caught up with him. "Horatio, here are the results on the DNA analysis. I was able to extract a sampling from the lip of the cup and compare it to the DNA of the Martinez fetus."

Taking the paper from her, Horatio silently reviewed the results of the analysis. With a grim expression on his face, he placed the paper inside the folder he was holding and slowly met Valera's eyes. "So... it would seem we have a match. Thank you, Miss Valera." Abruptly, Horatio turned from her and entered the room where Chuck was waiting for him.

He sat down at the table, facing the expectant man, and folded his hands, placing them on top of the folder. "Thanks for coming in, Chuck," Horatio began, leaning forward.

He studied the man sitting across from him, and didn't like what he saw. Chuck was obviously distressed. He looked tired, his eyes red-rimmed and hollow.

When Horatio saw that Chuck was unable to speak, he continued. "Problems sleeping, Chuck? You look tired. Is it Anita?"

Looking at Horatio's hands resting lightly on the folder, Chuck replied, "The last few nights have been difficult. For both me and Anita. Maria's death has hit us both pretty hard. That's why I came when you called, Horatio; if there is anything we can do... anything I can do... well, of course, we want to help."

"That is very generous of you, Chuck. What a good friend you are to Maria."

Something about the very quiet, mildly ironic tone employed by Horatio caught Chuck's attention and his uneasiness increased. He saw that Horatio's intelligent blue eyes were firmly fixed on his own, and Chuck had the fleeting thought that this must be how the mouse felt before the snake swallowed it.

"Anita and I have always tried to be good friends to Maria."

"Perhaps you... more so than Anita?"

"I don't understand, Horatio. What are you saying?"

Horatio silently opened the folder on the table and pulled out a sheet that had the email sent by Maria: _**"I haven't heard from you. Please, I must see you. You know how I feel. I care too much to cause you trouble. I just need your help. Please let me know when you can meet me. Please, mi querido, this is important." **_He turned the page so that it was facing Chuck.

"What I am saying, Chuck, is that you may wish to stop lying to me about your friendship with Maria. Do you want to tell me why Maria sent you this note?"

Chuck's eyes widened and he felt a clammy coldness seize him. "Horatio! I don't know anything about this email!"

Quietly and deliberately, Horatio tried again. "Chuck, I do not have a lot of patience today so do not play games with me. I know this email was addressed to your account. And I know something else, Chuck: I know Maria was pregnant... and I know who the father of the baby is. So I repeat, do not play games with me."

Horatio pulled out the page from the folder that contained the results of the DNA analysis and showed it to the shaken man. "This is the analysis of the baby's DNA... and this, Chuck, is yours. Yesterday, you drank some coffee in my office, conveniently leaving me with a sample of your DNA on the cup. Notice the similarity in the results?

"You've been a busy boy, Chuck. Pregnant wife at home... pregnant girlfriend working part-time in the Mayor's office."

For a moment, Chuck stared in horror at Horatio, his face a mixture of fear, guilt and sadness. Suddenly, he dropped his head into his hands and his shoulders began to shake. Horatio realized the man was crying, and gave him a minute or two to get his emotions under control.

"Talk to me, Chuck," he finally said.

Chuck raised a tear-stained face toward Horatio, and haltingly began to speak. "I never meant to hurt Maria, or to cause her pain. She was so sweet.

"You have to understand something, Horatio: I love my wife. Anita is my life... my strength. I never meant for the thing with Maria to happen! I don't want Anita to be hurt by this."

Horatio watched Chuck intently, while inwardly trying to overcome his newfound contempt for him. "For a man who loves his wife, Chuck, you have an odd way of showing it. And for not wanting to hurt either Maria or Anita, you have managed to hurt both."

Morosely, Chuck lowered his head, staring at the page Horatio had left on the table, evidence of the email that Maria had sent to him shortly before her death.

"When Maria first started working in Jack's office, there was nothing between us but a casual friendship. She was a quiet, reclusive sort of girl. Very different from Dolores. Dolores was the big sister - she looked out for Maria, was kind of bossy in her mothering of her. She worried about Maria's shyness, her lack of friendships. I think bringing Maria into the office to work was Dolores' way of trying to bring Maria out of her shell."

Meeting Horatio's eyes, he smiled sadly. "Maybe not such a good idea. She was a beautiful girl and... well, she attracted the attention of Jack. He was always after her, flirting with her, making suggestive comments. He made her feel uncomfortable, and she didn't want to say anything because she worried that it might affect Dolores' position. So she just tried to keep her distance... much as she could, anyway."

Horatio suddenly felt the phone vibrate in his pocket, but he didn't want to interrupt Chuck's recollection of events. But the phone made him think of Lauren... and then Nolan.

"What about Nolan," Horatio asked. "Did he approach the girl as well?"

"No, I think he wished Maria would stop working in the office. He was all about keeping Jack out of trouble, keeping him from doing something stupid that might endanger his gubernatorial prospects. Nick used to make the occasional sarcastic remark to her, hoping to intimidate her into leaving the office and, in that way, remove a potential problem.

"... but by that time, Maria and I were involved, and... she had a reason to stay."

Again, Horatio's phone vibrated, but he regretfully ignored it. "So... Maria stayed on because of you?"

"Mostly me... but she also needed the money... and then, there was Kate.

"Kate had come into the office a few times and she seemed to notice Maria's shyness. I think she saw something in Maria that she identified with. Especially when she learned of their shared passion for music. Maria played piano, liked classical and jazz music. She played fairly well - nothing like Kate, though, who was classically trained. But it was a tie between them, and she began to befriend Maria. For a quiet girl with few friendships, the relationship with Kate was important to her."

"How did your affair start, Chuck? Your wife is pregnant - from what I understand, you both wanted this baby."

Chuck suddenly dropped his eyes from Horatio's, and pain slid across his features. Visibly swallowing, he told Horatio how his casual friendship with Maria turned into something else. After he had gotten to know her at the office, he asked her if she'd like to earn some extra money by taking care of his kids once or twice a week in the evenings so that he and Anita could have some private moments to themselves. As time went on, he found himself spending more time talking with Maria, and felt an attraction growing. "One night, after she watched the kids for us, I took her home. Her car was in the shop, and she needed a ride. We... took it to the next level. It just happened, Horatio."

Looking at Thompson skeptically, Horation responded, "It has been my experience, Chuck, that nothing ever 'just happens.' So, you were having an affair with your children's sitter while your pregnant wife was at home, waiting for you."

"It wasn't like that! You make it sound tawdry."

"It is tawdry."

Chuck raised his hands imploringly, and Horatio noted the single, smooth gold wedding band he wore. "Look, you don't understand! The thing with Maria... it was only for a few months. It was an error in judgment. I love my wife! Anita is wonderful, she's smart, warm, she's strong... she is always in control of any situation.

"I need that strength in my life; my kids need it. When my life was at a dark point, she stepped in and saved me... saved my kids."

After hesitating for a moment, softly, almost to himself, he continued. "But sometimes... sometimes, it was overwhelming to be surrounded by all that strength, and all the expectations. It was hard to live up to her... goodness. With Maria, no expectations. She just saw me as this guy who took her part at the office, who listened to her, who cared... no demands, no expectations, no responsibilities.

"It was... freeing."

"Until she told you about the baby," Horatio remarked, quietly. "Right, Chuck? And then there were expectations... responsibilities... ."

With tears in the corners of his eyes, Thompson brokenly replied, "The email she sent to me... she sent it to me two nights before the Gala."

Horatio suddenly recalled something. "I remember that while I talked with your wife at the Gala, you slipped away for a lengthy period of time. When you returned, you looked shaken."

Chuck nodded. "Maria and I met in a small side room outside the ballroom and... she told me about the baby. I was in shock! I didn't know what to do, what to say. We agreed to meet later in the evening, after I took Anita home and she was asleep. We were going to talk about our options and decided to meet near the abandoned warehouse building out past Tucker Road."

He stopped speaking and closed his eyes.

"Look at me, Chuck." Horatio's urgent tone persuaded Chuck to open his eyes and meet Horatio's compelling gaze. "Did you decide that one of your 'options' was to murder Maria?"

"NO! No! Please, Horatio, you must believe me: I was just going to meet Maria to talk with her. That's all! I'm not proud of myself... I wanted to convince her to terminate the pregnancy. I wanted her to see it was the best course of action for both of us."

"And did she disagree? Is that when you lost your temper and hit her, Chuck, and then sped off in your car?"

"NO, NO, NO! I never even got the chance to speak with her! When I got to Tucker Road, I saw her car on the side of the road... and then I saw her. Just laying there, broken, in the road. I panicked... I panicked and headed back home as quickly as I could."

Horatio's wintry blue eyes viewed Thompson with contempt. "And you didn't stop to see if you could help? You just left that girl, pregnant with your child, laying there in the road?"

Shamefaced, Thompson lowered his head and nodded yes. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "so sorry. I was so scared. She deserved better."

"Yes. Yes, she did. ...Better than someone like you, certainly."

Thompson looked at Horatio. "I made a mistake, Horatio, but I didn't kill Maria. I would never have harmed her."

Horatio said nothing, continuing to look at Chuck.

"I love my wife, Horatio. She is about to have our baby... I don't want her to have to deal with this. Please, Horatio, isn't there some way we can keep her from learning about this?"

Standing up, Horatio picked up the folder on the table and turned his back on Chuck as he walked toward the door. "My friend, right now, you have bigger things to worry about than your wife learning you are a cheat."

XXXXX

Horatio left the room with a sour look on his face.

"Get anything, H?" Eric joined Horatio outside the interrogation room. "You think he's good for it?"

"No, Eric, I don't think so. My gut says no. But I am not averse to letting him sweat a bit. Let's keep him for awhile. Give him some time to let his conscience work him over... let's do it for both Maria and Anita."

With that, Horatio continued walking down the hall, retrieving his phone from his pocket as he did so. He had two voice mail messages - one from Alexx saying she was running twenty minutes behind for their lunch date, and a message from Frank to call him.

_No messages from Lauren_, he thought, with tired disappointment.

But he wasn't really surprised.

_To be continued._


	13. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

Sitting on a bench in the park not far from his lab, two corned beef on rye sandwiches next to him, Horatio was waiting for Alexx to arrive. While waiting, he punched Frank's number into his phone. "Got your message, Francis; what's happening?"

"Horatio, I'm sitting outside the Mayor's house. Mrs. O'Reilly just pulled up a few minutes ago."

"Anyone else in the house, Frank?"

"Just the kids."

"Okay. Bring her in, but use the entrance at the back of the lab. No use advertising her presence to the press. And keep her there until I arrive. Let's give Mrs. O'Reilly a little time to wonder why she has been called in for questioning."

"Right." Frank hung up, and Horatio continued looking at his phone, contemplating whether or not he should call Lauren.

"Penny for your thoughts, Lieutenant," said Alexx, sitting down beside him on the bench. "You seem pretty deep in thought. Tough case?"

Horatio smiled, leaning over to kiss her cheek. "Dr. Woods, I hope you brought your appetite with you. I have two juicy, meaty, artery-clogging sandwiches here, one for you and one for me."

"Sounds good to me. Who wants to live forever, anyway?"

Horatio grinned and took a bite out of his sandwich. "Alexx," he said thoughtfully, "Lauren once told me that you know Anita Thompson."

"Sure, I know Anita. We both sit on the board of Positive Change for Miami, as well as volunteer our services in the field." Horatio had long known of Alexx's involvement with that worthy organization which provided mobile medical services for at-risk children and immigrant families in the greater Miami area, but he hadn't known Anita was involved with it.

"I didn't realize that was how you knew her. Anita isn't a doctor; what is her connection with PCFM?"

"Horatio, PCFM doesn't just provide medical services; we also reach out to kids of immigrant parents, providing them with tutors who assist them with reading, math, language and other educational needs. Additionally, we help kids who live in stressful home situations or who have learning disabilities. People with Anita's educational background and commitment to the community play a huge part in helping us serve the Miami community."

Horatio smiled as he noted the sparkle in his friend's eyes when she spoke of PCFM. It cheered him to see his warm-hearted friend involved in something that both excited her and benefited the lives of people in Miami. He'd always admired Alexx's kindness and empathy. It was uplifting to see her happily engaged in volunteer work that fulfilled her strengths and talents while also fulfilling the needs of others.

When Alexx had decided to resign her position as medical examiner with the Miami Dade Coroner's Office, she did so with a conflicted heart since she had developed a fondness for Horatio's team. He recalled her telling him that she had seen too much death, that it was time to do something for the living. And so, with great sadness, Horatio had watched her leave his professional world, worrying that perhaps she might be leaving his personal one as well. Horatio loved Alexx like a sister, and the thought that his connection to her might be severed had brought a sense of desolation to his already too solitary heart.

But Alexx, who loved Horatio as well, was not one to allow relationships important to her to slowly grow cold. She reached out often to her lonely friend, and rarely did a week or two pass in which they did not talk, meet for lunch or that Horatio did not visit with her family. It was apparent to him that much of the worry and concern that Alexx carried in her own heart for the guarded Horatio had begun to ease once he met Lauren.

"How well do you know Anita's husband?" he asked.

"Chuck? Not all that well. I've met him a few times. He seems nice enough... although, frankly, compared to Anita, he seems rather colorless. She is the more striking personality of the two."

"Hmmm... "

"What does that serious 'hmmm' imply, Horatio? Is Anita in some sort of difficulty?" Alexx asked, concerned for her friend.

"Not Anita, Alexx... it's Chuck."

"What sort of difficulty, Horatio? I'd hate for anything to go wrong for Anita. This should be a happy time for her, finally getting ready to have that baby she has wanted for so long."

"Well, it seems our Chuck has been stepping out on Anita."

"Oh no, I can't believe that. He always seemed crazy about her, and also a bit in awe of her. Horatio, are you sure?"

As in times past, Horatio confided in his friend and told her about his conversation that morning with Chuck. He watched Alexx's eyes grow stormy as Chuck's involvement with Maria became clear.

"So my question to you, Alexx, is do you think he could have had anything to do with Maria's death, based on your acquaintance with him?"

"Sugar, who knows? I would have never thought he was capable of cheating on his wife. Still, based on what you've told me of the conversation, I don't think so. He seems lacking in strength and self-esteem, but he doesn't sound like someone who would commit murder."

"My thoughts as well. Which leaves me with a killer still at large." The phone in Horatio's pocket buzzed, and he took it out and looked at the number. _Lauren! _He allowed the call to roll over to voice mail, promising himself he'd listen as soon as his lunch with Alexx was over.

However, Alexx had seen the look of relief slide quickly over his features before Horatio could suppress the telltale emotion. He tried to assume a bland expression, but he wasn't quick enough to escape Alexx's sudden interest in his emotional response to the number that had popped up on the phone screen.

Looking at him inquiringly, she remarked, "You seem mighty happy to have gotten that call... was it Lauren?"

Inwardly cursing himself for allowing his emotions to show in front of Alexx, who could have been a crack CSI with her instincts for ferreting out the truth, Horatio reluctantly admitted it was.

"Well, why don't you call her back?"

"Later," he said.

"Hmph... seems to me that based on the expression on your face that you need to call her now."

"Later," he repeated.

She continued to look at him until he was forced to admit, "It's complicated, Alexx."

"What's so complicated? The woman you love has just called you on the phone, so you call her back. Seems pretty straight-forward to me."

Horatio didn't answer, and made a great show of eating his sandwich.

Suddenly, Alexx looked at him suspiciously. "Horatio Caine! What have you done?" she said accusingly.

Horatio put down his sandwich with a show of injured pride. "Excuse me? What have _I_ done? What have _I_ done? Why do you assume _'I' _have done anything?"

"Because I know _you_, Lieutenant! I know what a tough nut you can be to crack... keeping your feelings all bottled up, not letting anyone close. And I know how hard Lauren must work to get you to open up. So you tell me right now what you've done."

Looking into Alexx's narrowed eyes, Horatio figured he had two options: one, he could feign injured indignation and refuse to discuss matters with Alexx, or, two, he could tell her what had occurred between he and Lauren and get an objective point of view. Seeing the determined look on her face, he decided option one wasn't going to work today and resignedly went with option two.

Horatio began to tell Alexx what had occurred at Lauren's home, not sparing anything - his anger, first with Nolan and then with Lauren, and the feelings he'd experienced when she tempestuously told him he was not her "father."

When he finally finished, Alexx just shook her head. "Hoo boy... when you have a lovers' quarrel, you don't mess around, do you, honey?"

Horatio had the uncomfortable feeling he was about to get dressed down by "Mother Alexx," not something he was particularly in the mood for, given his already blossoming sense of guilt.

"Horatio, whatever possessed you to assume you could just walk into her place and tell her guest to get out?"

"He was not a 'guest," said Horatio with a show of injured patience, "he is a user and a goon for the Mayor, and is a person of interest in an ongoing investigation into the murder of a girl who worked in his boss' office. Lauren should never have let him in the condo - she placed herself in danger by her thoughtless actions."

"She works with him, Horatio; obviously she doesn't see him to be the threat that you do. Besides, you told her Nolan had an alibi that checked out."

Frowning, Horation objected. "There are alibis and then there are alibis... Alexx, you know as well as I do that alibis are not always what they seem. Nor are people. "

"Hmmm... you got that right," she agreed. "Case in point: Chuck Thompson. But, sugar, you could have handled the situation better. You could have made him leave without the machismo, and then explained things to Lauren. You need to remember that Lauren isn't a cop; it isn't her nature to see things the way you... or I... might."

Sighing, Horatio rubbed the back of his neck for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day; he was feeling tired and tense. "I know, Alexx, I know. ...I just didn't expect to see him there, especially after Lauren had told me she didn't want company that evening. I walk in there and see Nolan lazily sitting back on her sofa, wine glass in hand... and... I just saw red.

"Part of me hoped he wouldn't leave when I confronted him... so that I'd have an excuse to hit him," Horatio sheepishly acknowledged to Alexx - and himself. "Not one of my finest moments... "

"And not like you..." said Alexx thoughtfully. "Well, honey, don't beat yourself up over it. There is more to this, I think. Talk to Lauren... let her help you figure it out. She's a good listener but you have to give her the chance."

Horatio smiled uncertainly. "I'm not so sure I want her helping me to figure out why it bothers me that she accused me of acting like a father toward her. And I'm not so sure I want to think about what made that remark pop out so suddenly... or maybe not so suddenly. Maybe it has been there in the back of her mind for some time."

"Oh, please!" said Alexx with exasperation. "She was angry with you and said the first thing that popped into her head. I've seen the two of you together, Horatio Caine, and I assure you she does not look at you like you're 'daddy!'

"You know what I find intriguing, Lieutenant? You're so fixated on the 'father' reference that you completely ignore the 'husband' reference. While you're all hot and bothered that she used the daddy word, you seem to dismiss as meaningless her remark that you aren't her husband. Why should one remark have any more credence than the other? If you're looking for hidden meanings behind what she is saying, you might think about that!"

Startled, Horatio stammered, "I'm sure she meant nothing by the 'husband' remark. We've only known each other for six months or so, Alexx!"

Seeing Horatio's alarmed confusion, Alexx sought to soothe him. "And I'm sure you're right. In fact, I'm convinced she meant nothing by either remark. They are your issues, Horatio, not hers."

Alexx glanced at her watch and sighed. "I have to get back to the hospital." As she stood up to take her leave, she bent over suddenly and gave him a warm hug. Looking sternly at her friend, she lightly commanded, "Now, Mister, call Lauren!"

XXXXX

After Alexx left, Horatio continued sitting on the bench, thinking about the young woman who had never been far from his thoughts all morning. Finally, he pulled out his phone and accessed his voice mail. Listening, he heard Lauren's soft voice:

_**Hi, Horatio. I was really hoping to touch base with you. I... um... I'm at the airport. I have a flight at 3:00 to Baltimore. I'm looking forward to seeing my family for a few days. Guess you were right - maybe Jack has done me a favor.**_

_**...Horatio, I'm so sorry about the way we left things last night... you must know you're important to me... that I love you. I guess this trip home is good for many reasons. ...I better go - I have to go through Security now. Bye.**_

Horatio continued to sit, wondering what he should say to Lauren, how to even begin. He looked at the phone just as a call was coming in from Tripp. "Frank?"

"Horatio, we've got Mrs. O'Reilly. And we also have a problem. Delgado has shown up, mad as a hornet. Seems word has gotten to him that you brought the Mayor's wife in. And there is talk that the Mayor and the kids are on their way. What do you want to do?"

Thinking it through for a moment, Horatio replied, "Keep Mrs. O'Reilly separate from her family when they arrive, Frank. I don't want O'Reilly influencing her. As for the Chief, tell him I'm on my way and will see him as soon as I get there."

Horatio knew he should head back to work immediately, but still he paused. Making up his mind, he punched in Lauren's number, trying to figure out what he was going to say to her when she answered. With a keen sense of disappointment, he listened as the call rolled over to Lauren's voice mail.

"I'm sorry I missed your call, sweetheart. It has been a busy day. You'll be boarding your plane soon. When you get settled in at home, call me and let me know you're okay." Horatio hesitated for a moment, and then added "I love you" before hanging up.

Rising from the bench, Horatio felt slightly better; he was relieved that Lauren was on her way home and far from any of the fallout that might arise from the case. He was also glad she seemed as unhappy about the way they had left things last night as he was - the sound of her voice was more sad and regretful than angry. _Alexx is right_, he thought. _I need to talk to Lauren about this... but not over the phone.  
><em>  
>Horatio's mind suddenly switched gears as he thought about what awaited him back at the lab: a scared, chastened Chuck Thompson; a nervous, wary Kate O'Reilly, the imminent arrival of the belligerent Mayor; and one angry MDPD Chief. Horatio grinned with wry amusement and thought, <em>Just another day at the office.<em>

XXXXX

Walking briskly through the front doors of the Crime Lab, Horatio was suddenly assailed by a deep, angry voice. "Lieutenant Caine, a word with you, please."

Chief Delgado was standing in the center of the hallway, his face tight with annoyance, and the telltale vein on the side of his temple visibly throbbing, a sure sign to Horatio that the Chief was on the warpath. Taking a deep breath, Horatio followed his superior into a small side office, prepared for the dressing down to come.

Closing the door against prying ears, Delgado exploded. "Caine, am I to understand you had one of the detectives pick up the Mayor's wife, and that she is cooling her heels here while you eat lunch in the park? Are you trying to purposely antagonize the Mayor?"

Calmly, Horatio replied, "Sir, Mrs. O'Reilly is a person of interest in this investigation."

"You couldn't talk to her in her home? You have somebody drag her into the office like a criminal?"

"I did not want her in the comfort of her own environment; I want her kept off-guard. And, Chief Delgado, we do not know yet that she hasn't committed a crime."

Delgado spluttered, "Do you have any grounds to suspect that she has any role in the case - or are you just yanking the Mayor's chain on this? So help me, God, Caine, if you are playing games just to rile..."

Horatio smoothly interrupted the man's tirade, wondering not for the first time how such a marionette ever secured an important leadership position with the MDPD. "Sir, I have reason to believe she is either involved in the case... or has some knowledge of it that may be helpful. And I may have physical evidence linking her to the victim. We need to pursue this.

"If this were anyone but the Mayor's wife,' he continued, "you would agree that it is necessary to interview the woman. Are you letting the Mayor's position influence you in the way this case should be handled? Or perhaps the death of one, unimportant Hispanic girl is not as meaningful as possibly stepping on some well-placed toes to solve it?"

Delgado's lips suddenly thinned to a hard, tight line, whitening around the edges, and he fought for control over his anger. No one on the force could set him off like Caine! He considered the lieutenant one of the best in his field, but the man's disregard for the political power structure and the MDPD's place in it caused Delgado a great deal of discomfort at times. Like it or not, his department had to have a good relationship with the vengeful Mayor, and Caine's lack of diplomatic finesse was not going to help the MDPD in the long run.

Mastering his rage, Delgado looked at the infuriatingly calm lieutenant. "You forget yourself, Lieutenant Caine. I am going to overlook that last remark. But I warn you: do not drag the MDPD into quicksand because you have a bee in your bonnet about the Mayor. You get one shot at Mrs. O'Reilly today - either find out something significant or drop it. Do I make myself clear?"

Horatio gave Delgado a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Perfectly, sir. That was my intention from the start." Horatio's vivid blue eyes appraised the Chief. "Is there anything else, sir?"

Delgado scowled, opened the door to the small office and turned to leave. "I'll be watching you, Caine," he said as he departed.

_I have no doubt_, thought Horatio, observing with contempt the irate Delgado as he walked away.

_To be continued._


	14. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

"Horatio," Frank called out, seeing the red-haired lieutenant approaching. "Over here."

Horatio turned toward Frank, his eyebrows raised in inquiry. "What's going on, Frank?"

"I have Mrs. O'Reilly in the interrogation room down the hall. The kids have arrived, and they are sitting in the alcove across from the room." Frank's eyes narrowed. "The daughter is sure a piece of work."

"Why do you say that?"

"She's being very combative. She kept shoving her index finger in my face, wanting to know why she and her brother can't see mom, threatening that her father is not going to like this, that we'll regret this, yada, yada."

" 'Yada, yada,' Frank?" Horatio looked puzzled.

"Huh? Oh, I was watching a Seinfeld episode last night... you know... 'yada, yada,' as in 'so on and so on.' Damn, Horatio, don't you ever watch television?"

"Not much," he admitted. "What about our fine Mayor? Has he shown up yet?"

"Not yet, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time before 'Hizzoner' makes a grand entrance," Frank sarcastically replied.

Horatio silently agreed. "What is Mrs. O'Reilly's temperature?"

"Warm... very warm. As my grandmother used to say, she's as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a roomful of rocking chairs."

Horatio couldn't help grinning. "Very colorful, Frank."

Moving down the corridor with the detective, Horatio glimpsed Kelly and Daniel O'Reilly sitting on the bench across from the interrogation room. The young man looked upset, clasping and unclasping his hands, his head lowered. As Horatio was about to move past them, Kelly caught his eye and stood up.

"Lieutenant Caine," the pretty girl said urgently, "may I speak with you for a moment?"

Frank waited while Horatio walked toward the young woman. "Miss O'Reilly," he acknowledged.

"Lieutenant, why was our mother brought here? Surely you don't believe she knows anything about what happened to Maria Martinez!"

"That is what we intend to find out."

Kelly looked at Horatio and her usually friendly eyes narrowed. "Lieutenant, my mother knows nothing, I'm sure. How can you even think a person of her background would know anything about this? My mother is a quiet, reclusive person. This is very upsetting to her! And to us!

"My father is on his way. He is going to be very angry when he learns that Mother was hauled in here by one of your people! ...Does my mother need a lawyer?"

Horatio noted the increasingly bellicose tone in Kelly's voice, but he saw that lurking beneath the belligerence was the fear a child experiences when the world as she knows it is threatened. Kindly, Horatio said, "Miss O'Reilly, we need to ask your mother some questions. I am going to have to ask you to please sit down if you are going to remain here."

"Sit down, Kell, let Da handle things when he gets here," pleaded Daniel with exasperation. "You aren't helping things."

Kelly's stormy blue eyes remained fixed on Horatio's for a few seconds, and then she reluctantly moved back to where her brother was sitting, glaring at Horatio all the while.

Joining Frank, who was shaking his head in annoyance, they walked into the interrogation room to speak with Kate O'Reilly.

Horatio saw that Kate was standing near the window, gazing pensively out on the grounds of the crime lab. When he and Frank entered the room, she quickly turned around to face them. Horatio noted her tired, drawn features; Frank was correct - the lady radiated anxiety and tension.

"Ma'am, please have a seat," he said gently, as Frank looked on impassively.

Kate approached the table and, as she sat down, she nervously brushed up against her open purse which had been sitting on the table, spilling the contents on the floor. She quickly knelt down and began to swiftly scoop the articles back into the handbag, but not before Horatio got a glimpse of a slim enamel case. Saying nothing, Horatio watched her complete her task, and re-seat herself at the table.

Frank sat down across from the troubled woman, and placed a large envelope on the table between the two of them. "Mrs. O'Reilly, we brought you in because we need to ask you a few questions."

"What sort of questions, Detective?" she asked softly.

As Horatio stood near the window, looking out at nothing in particular, he focused on the conversation he was hearing. Frank opened the envelope, pulling out a photograph of the calendar entry on Maria Martinez's computer. "Mrs. O'Reilly, we found this diary entry on the victim's computer. We have statements from several others that you had developed a friendship with Miss Martinez... can you tell us anything about the entry?"

Tension was written across Kate's face as she nervously picked up the photo to read the entry: _KO / Stu D / MMC_.

Putting the photo down, she looked at Frank and softly replied, "Maria and I used to meet at the Miami Music Conservatory. I would help her with her music... in Studio D. Maria had a passion for music; she played with such expression... such beauty. She was largely unschooled, though, and I used to help her. The music, for her, was a form of relaxation; she had such a busy, stressful life, working to pay for her schooling, taking care of her mother."

"When was the last time you saw the victim?"

"The night of the Gala. She was there with her sister, my husband's assistant."

"Did you speak with her?"

"No, I was too busy greeting my husband's associates and supporters."

Frank sat back in his chair, frowning at the pale woman. "We have statements that your husband was hanging about the girl, coming on to her... perhaps you saw what was going on... blamed her for possibly encouraging him?"

"What are you talking about? There was nothing between Maria and Jack!"

"Really? …I don't know, Mrs. O'Reilly, but it isn't hard to figure that a beautiful young girl works in your husband's office, maybe gives him some signals that his attention isn't entirely unwanted... you get wind of it... maybe get jealous... angry with her... "

Kate cut in scornfully, "You don't know what you're talking about!"

Horatio turned from the window to face the angry woman. "Ma'am, the enamel case that fell out of your purse... what do you use it for?"

Confused by the sudden change in the conversation, she stammered. "I... well, I use it for my cigarettes."

"It doesn't really look like a cigarette case," he remarked, looking at her intently.

"It's not, but I have been using it as one since I lost the one I used before."

Taking another photo from the envelope, Frank pushed the photo her way. "Is this the case you lost, Mrs. O'Reilly?"

Surprised, Kate exclaimed, "Yes! Yes, it is. But how did you find it?"

Horatio sat down next to her at the table. "Ma'am, we found this in Maria's car. There are prints in the car, on the steering wheel, that match the prints on the case... and I am guessing that if we take your finger prints, they will be a match.

"Ma'am... you were in Maria's car, weren't you?"

Kate O'Reilly dropped her head, refusing to meet Horatio's eyes. He saw her clench her hand into a fist, and noted that her cuticles had a ragged look to them, as if they had been nervously chewed at. "Mrs. O'Reilly," he gently prodded, "why don't you tell me what happened? Did you have an argument with Maria the night she died?"

Kate raised tear-glistened eyes to Horatio's, and brokenly replied, "Yes... Oh, yes!"

Taking her clenched fist in his hands, Horatio held it, trying by touch to get Kate to relax it, and to tell her story to he and Frank. "Kate, what happened? Was it because of the Mayor's interest in her? Were you angry at what you saw as the betrayal of your friendship?"

The defeated woman shook her head tearfully. "No, no... I wasn't angry with Maria."

Removing her hand from Horatio's, she took a handkerchief from her purse, and wiped her eyes as she sought to regain her composure. "I know what sort of man my husband is, Lieutenant. He's an emotional child, always looking for the next new, shiny toy. Women have no lasting value to Jack, and Maria would have been no different. I stopped being jealous or hurt by his infidelities very early in our marriage.

"Maria," she continued, "wasn't interested in Jack. He was simply 'the Mayor' to her, her sister's boss. She ignored his advances, tried to look the other way. She was wise enough to see him for who he is... much wiser than I was at her age," she finished bitterly.

Kate closed her eyes, and a look of pain washed across her features. "Maria was a lovely young girl," she said softly. "So tentative, so sensitive... vulnerable. She touched my heart... I would listen to her playing the piano, and watch her face... she 'felt' the music. She felt so much. And I felt so much for her. I loved Maria."

Horatio smiled sadly. "She was like a daughter to you," he stated.

Kate opened her eyes, and looked directly at Horatio. "You misunderstand, Lieutenant," she said quietly, "I didn't just love Maria...

"I was _in_ love with her."

_To be continued._


	15. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

"I was in love with Maria," Kate repeated, her eyes dark with grief.

Frank and Horatio exchanged brief looks of surprise before Horatio turned his attention back to the troubled woman sitting before them. "Did Maria know how you felt? Did she return your feelings?"

Kate, unable to speak for a moment, simply shook her head.

"Mrs. O'Reilly," said Frank quietly, "why don't you help yourself out here... did you tell Miss Martinez of your feelings?"

Kate looked over at Horatio and asked, "Can I smoke, please?" Horatio nodded, watching her nervous fingers reach inside her purse for the enamel case, and extract a cigarette from it. She was attempting to light it when Horatio took the lighter from her, flicked it open, and held it to her cigarette. Grateful, she inhaled deeply from the cigarette, and the familiar habit seemed to grant her a measure of composure. Seeing that she was more in control of herself, Horatio asked her to tell them about her relationship with Maria.

Slowly, the emotionally weary woman began to speak. "I met Maria when she came to work in my husband's office. At first, I hardly noticed her so used was I to the parade of attractive women that used to be in and out of his office. I seldom went to my husband's office, but on those occasions when I had no choice, I began to see that she was different. She was shy and quiet, and I sensed a kindred spirit as I watched her in the company of my husband and the men he surrounded himself with. She was uncomfortable around them... their rough manners... coarse appetites.

"It seemed almost too good to be true when I discovered we shared a love of music."

Kate looked into Horatio's warm blue eyes, seeking understanding and compassion. Finding them, she continued, "You see, Lieutenant, I was so lonely. Married to Jack, I felt surrounded by his people who were always intent on 'handling' me. They viewed me at various times as either an asset or a liability, useful only when they wanted to convince voters of Jack's 'happy little family.' Then, they'd trot me and the children out before all those prying, hungry eyes... and I would have to smile and pretend that I didn't notice the condescension, the smirks, the ugly little whispers about Jack's infidelities.

"People can be so cruel," she sadly reflected, "and no where is that more true than in the political arena. It was... very difficult, learning to swim with the sharks. I never quite mastered the art... ."

Kate looked at the increasing pile of ash in the paper cup before her, and again deeply inhaled, needing the cigarette's calming, almost narcotic effect. "After a while, I began to have a drink before I had to meet Jack's public... to fortify myself. Over time, one drink turned into two, two became three... the alcohol, the occasional pill, the cigarettes... they helped a little, but then stories started circulating about the drinking... I began to feel like a sad character in a trite novel.

"When I learned of Maria's interest in music, I invited her to meet with me at the Conservatory. We would meet in Studio D, and we spent many wonderful hours together, playing music, discussing what the composer was trying to convey through the piece. You see, gentlemen, in order to play well, you have to understand the music from your heart, feel it in your soul. It is more than just playing notes on a page."

Kate smiled faintly. "Maria understood that so well! I would work with her on various pieces, and as I watched her play, I would see the passion for the music work its way from her heart to her fingertips. For Maria, the music took her away from the stresses of her daily life - the constant studies, caring for her elderly mother, the various jobs she worked to stay afloat financially."

"Kate, tell us what happened the last time you saw Maria," encouraged Horatio quietly.

She looked at Horatio, and then over to Frank. "The calendar entry you showed me... that was the last time we met at the Conservatory. Maria seemed upset that afternoon. We were working on an especially difficult passage of a Chopin piece, and she was frustrated at her inability to master it. Several times we would stop and start again until finally Maria took both hands and crashed them against the keyboard!

"That was so unlike her, the dramatics! I asked her what was wrong, and she suddenly began to cry deep wrenching sobs that tore at my heart. She kept telling me that she had made a mistake. Had ruined her life and didn't know what to do."

Abruptly putting out her cigarette, Kate stopped speaking and stared at her wedding ring. "She wouldn't tell me what she meant by that, just kept shaking and crying softly. I wanted to comfort her, tell her that no matter what she was dealing with, it couldn't be so bad that together we would not be able to face it. I reached out to her, and held her closely.

"I only meant to comfort her, Lieutenant," she said to Horatio, "but it quickly turned into something else."

"How did she react?" asked Horatio softly.

Kate gave a short bark of bitter laughter. "How did she react? She pulled away, and stared at me. I could see she was repulsed. She told me that she didn't know what she had ever done to make me think she was '_that way_.' I tried to explain that I hadn't meant to upset her, that it just happened... but she wouldn't listen to me. She was too upset. She left, telling me she never wanted to see me again... that we could no longer be friends."

Horatio felt sadness for the dejected woman in front of him. He saw the unshed tears in her eyes as she told him, "It broke my heart, Lieutenant, being told she never wanted to see me again."

Kindly, Horatio smiled slightly and nodded his head in understanding. "But you did see her again, didn't you, Kate?"

Kate began to play with the ring on her finger. "The night of the Gala, Maria was there. I didn't expect to see her, and I was filled with such happiness and hope. I thought that she'd reconsidered what had happened between us. I kept trying to catch her eye the entire evening... but every time I'd do so, her eyes would quickly slide from mine to anywhere else in the room.

"Lieutenant, right or wrong, I knew I had to see her alone for a few minutes. I just wanted the chance to try to put things right. I couldn't leave things as they were between us. I was willing to have a friendship with her on whatever terms she wanted... friend, mother... lover.

"I suppose you think I'm pathetic, don't you?" she asked sadly.

"No, no, I don't... it isn't pathetic to want to be loved, Kate," Horatio said kindly. "What happened?"

"The evening seemed interminable. I kept looking for the opportunity to speak to her, but none presented itself. Finally, toward the end of the evening, I saw her leaving the ballroom. I excused myself temporarily and followed her to the garage. I watched as she got into her car, and before she could stop me, I sat down beside her in the passenger seat. I think she was too surprised to react for a moment.

"She asked me what I was doing, and I told her that I felt so horrible at the way we left things, and I asked her to forgive me for overstepping the bounds of our friendship. I wasn't sure how she was going to react to what I was saying, but what I didn't expect was that she would start crying. She was grasping the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles were white, all the while just sitting there, crying She told me I had always been a good friend to her and that she needed someone to talk to. And then she told me about the baby... and the married man who was its father.

"For an ugly, bitter moment, I thought that Jack was the father... and I hated him for it! But as she continued to speak about the man, I realized it wasn't Jack at all. It was obvious to me that Maria loved this man... and it was also apparent that he was not going to leave his family to take care of Maria and the baby.

"It hurt me to see her so wounded, so lost... I finally forced her hands from the steering wheel and held them in mine, whispering that things would work out, that I would help her... I held her close, and I comforted her.

"And that was the last time I saw her, Lieutenant."

"You left her there?" asked Frank.

"I had to - I had to return to the Gala before anyone noticed I had been gone for too long."

Horatio stood up and gestured to Frank, and together they stepped out of the room.

"Well... what do you think?" asked Frank, as he and Horatio gazed at the woman through the glass.

"I don't think it was her, Frank. She cared for the girl; she wouldn't have hurt her. I don't think it's in her," Horatio replied, running a hand through his hair in frustration. He couldn't escape the thought that he was missing something. Turning his head from the glass, he noted that the furious Mayor had arrived and was fast approaching with Nick Nolan and both children on his heels. He watched as father and daughter were speaking together spiritedly, the Mayor's blue eyes snapping and the girl's ringed fingers and bracelets flashing as she expressed her feelings. Horatio's eyes narrowed at the sight of Nolan with them, no doubt ready to impose some sort of damage control, if needed.

"Well, Horatio," a frustrated Frank continued, "you know what this means, don't you? It means we still have a killer on the loose."

His eyes focused on the small, rapidly approaching entourage, Horatio rubbed the nape of his neck and reflected, "Maybe not, Frank, maybe not."

_To be continued._


	16. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

Horatio viewed the man before him with fascination. Never had he seen the Mayor as outraged as he was at this moment. His florid complexion was mottled with anger and his vivid blue eyes were ablaze with indignation. "Caine, I want to see my wife. Now."

Mildly, Horatio replied, "All in good time, Mayor."

"On what grounds did you bring her in for questioning? Surely you can't think she had anything to do with Maria's death? If anything, she went out of her way to befriend the girl!"

"This is ridiculous," cried Kelly. "This is all about your desire to ruin my father!"

Horatio looked at the girl with curiosity. "Why would you say that, Miss O'Reilly? Don't you think it's important to question everyone who knew Miss Martinez and try to find out if they have any knowledge of her death? Apparently your mother was very close to the girl; why wouldn't we question her?"

"My mother was certainly _not _all that close to her!" she denied hotly. "She occasionally helped her with music lessons… because she felt sorry for her... because she didn't have many financial resources and because she was Mrs. Esteban's sister. But that was it. There was no special friendship between them!"

Nolan smoothly interrupted. "Kelly, please be still for a moment and let me handle this," he said to the troubled girl. She started to speak again, but her quiet, older brother put his arm about her shoulder, and she bit her lip and said nothing. Horatio watched as the frustrated young woman raked her shining gold hair off her forehead with her left hand, and something clicked for him.

Turning to face Horatio, Nolan asked him on what grounds they were holding Mrs. O'Reilly.

Horatio swallowed the sudden dislike that rose up within him at Nick's authoritative attempt to assume control of the situation. "Well, Nick, I wasn't aware you were the attorney for the family," he said drily.

"Nick speaks for me, Caine," replied the Mayor angrily. "Please answer the question. What charges are you holding my wife on?"

"Actually, Mayor, we are _not _holding Mrs. O'Reilly. We questioned her about her friendship with Maria and asked her some questions about the night Maria died, and we are now going to release her."

"Well," said the mollified Mayor, "I'm glad you've seen reason.

"But don't think I am going to let this pass, Caine!" he continued belligerently. "I will remember how you had your people drag my wife in here even though there were no legitimate grounds to do so. You could have spoken to Kate at home, you could have - "

"That's a lovely ring, Miss O'Reilly," said Horatio, interrupting the Mayor's tirade and looking intently at Kelly. "You have lovely hands... rather like your mother's.

"You know," he said thoughtfully, "my mother had lovely hands like yours...she used to play the piano. When I was a boy, we called long, aristocratic hands like yours 'piano hands.' Do you play?"

"Only in the most rudimentary manner," Kelly replied. "I never had the discipline or the interest for anything more."

"May I, please?" Horatio asked, taking her left hand in both of his. He gazed at the ring on her left hand. Not looking up, he softly said, "Mayor, I think you and the children should join Mrs. O'Reilly, please."

"What is this about, Caine?" asked Nolan with irritation. "You just told us you were releasing Mrs. O'Reilly."

"And I intend to, Nick, but there are a few things that I want to speak with Kelly about."

"Kelly?" spluttered the Mayor. "Kelly has nothing to do with any of this!" Narrowing his eyes, he looked at Horatio venomously. "Caine, are you determined to continue this vendetta against me? I won't allow you to drag my family through the mud."

Horatio finally looked up from Kelly's hand, and gazed deeply into her eyes, and saw the sudden unease in them. "Just a few minutes is all I need, Kelly, okay?"

"I don't know anything, Lieutenant."

"Just a few minutes, Kelly," he repeated.

Reluctantly, the Mayor and the children followed Frank into the room where Mrs. O'Reilly sat. Nolan started to accompany them when Horatio held out his palm and placed it on Nolan's chest. "Not you, Nick. Only the family. Now, be a good boy and run along." It gave Horatio a feeling of satisfaction to see Nolan flush with anger before turning away.

Kate looked up in confusion as her family entered the room. Kelly and Daniel went over to her immediately, while the Mayor hung back, staring at her with a mixture of anger and dismay.

"Well, Katie," said her husband, "the lieutenant says he is going to release you. He is satisfied that you have nothing to add to this investigation."

Relief washed over Kate's features, and she smiled as Daniel took her hand. "Are you all right, Mother? Kelly and I were worried when the detective took you with him for questioning."

Kate looked into the earnest, concerned eyes of her eldest child. She could see that he was worried about her, this boy so quickly grown into a man - and it struck her how little attention she had paid to his journey along the way, so wrapped up was she in her own pain. "I'm fine," she smiled. "Just glad this is all over."

She looked over at her daughter, usually so voluble and was disconcerted by her uncharacteristic silence.

"Okay, folks, everyone have a seat, please," said Frank, gesturing toward a chair for the Mayor. With some reluctance, O'Reilly sat down and beamed hostile eyes at Horatio, standing at the head of the table.

"All right, Lieutenant, now that you have us at your disposal, what is this all about?" the Mayor asked with annoyance. "What do you need to speak with Kelly about?"

"Kelly?" Kate's startled, slightly alarmed eyes flew to her daughter's face, and then toward Horatio's grim visage.

Directing his attention toward Kelly, Horatio spoke to her softly. "You, Miss O'Reilly, make a memorable impression. But I suspect you know that. And I also suspect you work very hard to create that impression.

"The night of the Gala, I found my attention drifting your way several times. You are a very charming young woman, and I watched as you charmed your father's colleagues and supporters throughout the evening with your jokes and laughter."

"Is this going somewhere, Caine?" asked the irritated Mayor impatiently.

Ignoring the Mayor's interruption, Horatio continued to focus his attention on Kelly, his eyes drifting downward to her hands. "Do you realize what expressive use you make of your hands when you speak? I was struck by that during the Gala... and by the play of light on the many bracelets and rings you wore that evening. You made a very pretty picture."

Abruptly, Horatio held out his hand. "May I see the ring on your left hand, please?"

With uncertainty, Kelly removed the ring from her finger and reluctantly handed it over.

"Thank you." Horatio examined the piece of jewelry: it was a wide gold band with in-laid diamonds in the shape of a "K".

" 'K' ... for 'Kelly,' of course," stated Horatio, softly, almost to himself.

"The ring," said Kate, "the ring... it was a gift to Kelly from her father and me on her sixteenth birthday, Lieutenant."

Horatio sat the ring on the table before him, and opened up the folder that had been sitting on the table. It took only a second or two for Horatio to find what he was looking for, and he quickly withdrew the photograph from among the documents in the folder.

"Do you see this photo, Miss O'Reilly? This is a blow-up of a small area of Maria Martinez's chin. More to the point, do you see that shape right there?" Horatio pointed to the V shape, the "V" that was laying on its side.

Kelly stared at the shape as if mesmerized, saying nothing.

"Miss O'Reilly, I would be willing to bet that if I have the lab attempt to match the parameters of your ring to the parameters of the victim's bruising, we will find we have an identical match."

Slowly, Horatio sat down across from the silent girl, and leaned in closely. "Kelly," he said quietly, "do you want to tell me how an imprint from your ring wound up on Maria's skin?"

The room was silent with tension as the import of what Horatio was saying began to penetrate the minds of Kelly's family. Seconds later, the tension broke with Daniel O'Reilly being the first on his feet. "Are you crazy? You think Kelly had something to do with that woman's death?"

"Sit down, Son," Horatio said quietly, only to be interrupted by the Mayor.

"Danny's right. You must be crazy to think my daughter would hurt the Martinez girl," he said angrily. "She barely knew her; what possible motive would she have had?"

Kate looked at Kelly, who continued to stare at the photo on the table, not raising her eyes to meet those of anyone in the room. "Kelly, what is happening here? Explain this, Kelly, please!"

The room grew silent as Kelly slowly raised sad eyes toward her mother. "Explain? What shall I explain, Mother?"

All animation left the young woman's face, and she looked silently around the room, her sad eyes resting fleetingly on her father, her brother, Horatio, Frank... and then settling, finally, on her mother.

_To be continued._


	17. Chapter 17

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

Dully, Kelly repeated, "What shall I explain, Mother?"

She looked at Kate sadly and brokenly continued, "Shall I explain that for my entire life I've just wanted you to notice me? You know, I think this may be the first time I've ever penetrated that wall you've always placed between us.

"Why couldn't you ever love me?" she asked, plaintively. "Why were you always so distant?"

Astonished, Kate looked at her daughter with bewilderment. "Kelly, you're my daughter! Of course, I love you! How could you think otherwise?"

A wistful smile appeared on the young woman's lovely face. "How could I not?" Tears appeared in the corners of Kelly's eyes, and she reached across the table, wanting to take her mother's hand in hers. Out of reflex, Kate unthinkingly withdrew her hand from Kelly's, not grasping what this might mean to her daughter.

Smiling mirthlessly, Kelly softly said, "Even now, Mother. Even now, you can't bear to be touched by me.

"When I was small, I always wanted you to hold me. But you never did. You were always so proper, always so distant. I used to try so hard to think of things I might do that would gain your approval. But nothing ever seemed to work. No matter what I did, I could never... penetrate that wall you erected.

"And I tried! I tried to be the good daughter, smart and witty, the charming, happy girl that people couldn't help but love. And it worked. Everyone seemed to love me... but you. Do you have any idea how it feels to be in a room with someone you love and never feel they really "see" you? How painful that is?"

"Oh, Kelly," said Kate miserably, beginning to understand for the first time how much her own emotional pain had distanced her from her daughter and hurt her.

"After a while, it stopped hurting so much. I accepted things for what they were and I realized that it wasn't my lack of feeling that was the problem; it was yours. There was just something missing inside of you. You were incapable of stepping outside of yourself and loving me. It was the same with Danny. You treated him with the same polite disinterest."

Kelly looked over at her father, and the sad, perplexed look on her face lightened somewhat as she gazed with affection at the dismayed man. "But then there was Da. There was never any doubt that Da loved us. He gave us the warmth and approval you couldn't." She lowered her head and very softly exclaimed, "Oh Da! I'm so sorry for what I've done. Please forgive me. You're the one person I _never _wished to hurt."

Horatio had been silent as he allowed Kelly to take her time with her story, but studying the Mayor, he became uneasy. Always a handsome, florid man, Jack O'Reilly's complexion had gone gray as he listened to Kelly's words and slowly began to understand where her story was headed. Horatio watched the Mayor's usual energy and purpose start to falter. The shaken man stared at his daughter, equal parts of horror and worry written across his features.

"Mayor," asked Horatio urgently, "are you well? Do you need a moment? Would you like some water?"

"I'm fine, fine..." the bewildered O'Reilly replied, and made an effort to pull himself together. Horatio realized that if the formidable Mayor had an Achilles heel, it was his love for his children; this was one time where all of his blustering and power plays were not going to solve the problem, and O'Reilly seemed both frightened and unsettled.

"All right, then," Horatio said after a moment's consideration. "Kelly, tell us what happened between you and Maria, please."

Taking a deep breath, Kelly began to recount the events that occurred the night of the Gala.

XXXXX

For several weeks, she had been happily anticipating the big night and the opportunity it would give her to support her father in his campaign for governor. There was nothing she wouldn't do for him; she loved him, and saw that love returned in the way his eyes danced when she entered a room.

Glancing at her mother standing alongside her father that night, Kelly had been struck by her mother's seeming agitation. She had seldom seen her mother anything but composed and distant. This night Kate looked as though she might jump out of her skin, and as the evening wore on, Kelly began to notice her mother's fixed attention on Dolores Esteban's younger sister, Maria.

Somewhere deep within Kelly, in that part of her that was still a needy child desiring her mother's attention, a vague uneasiness and dislike began to grow. _Why was her mother so transfixed by this girl? _

Later, Kelly noticed her father approach Maria and engage in a harmless flirtation with her. Kelly had long grown used to hearing stories about her father's unfaithfulness. Most of the time, she dismissed the stories as mean-spirited gossip; but there were times when Kelly felt sympathy for her father. She knew her parents were not happy, and she did not grow up in a house where husband and wife had a warm and loving relationship. Fairly or not, she attributed most of the blame to her mother for Kelly had never known her mother to be demonstrative or particularly interested in her family. It often seemed to Kelly that all her mother cared about was her music.

While her father engaged in the mild flirtation with the girl, Kelly noticed that Maria grew increasingly anxious and then walked away from him. But it was her mother's reaction to the scene that puzzled Kelly. _She seems... almost jealous_, she recalled thinking. _But why? Mother has never seemed to care what Da does...why would she be jealous of a meaningless flirtation with a girl from his office?_

Several hours later, Kelly was surprised to see her mother slip away from the ballroom as she followed Maria from the room. Intrigued and confused, Kelly decided to follow them. _Is mother going to confront the girl about the flirtation with Da? _she had thought with consternation.

_It just didn't add up._

XXXXX

Abruptly, Kelly stopped speaking and tried to gather her thoughts. Horatio could sense her reluctance to go on, but gently prodded her to continue. "And what did you see when you followed your mother?" he asked.

Looking at Horatio with a mixture of hurt and bafflement on her face, she exclaimed, "I saw my mother sitting in a car with that girl, holding her! She was kissing her hair, stroking her face. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I couldn't believe it was my mother!"

Looking directly at Kate, anger crept into Kelly's voice. "What was so special about her, Mother? And how could you... feel that way about her... when you had so little feeling for Da, for me, for Danny?"

"Kelly," interrupted Horatio, "Did you follow Miss Martinez?"

Dragging accusing eyes from her mother, Kelly began to cry silently as she looked at Horatio. "Yes. After Mother went back to the ballroom, I got into my car and followed Maria as she left the garage."

"Did she know you were tailing her? Did you force her off the road?" asked Frank.

"After a while, I think she knew I was following her because when we got to Tucker Road, she stopped the car without warning. I had been going so fast that I couldn't brake in time, and I bumped into the back of her car. She then pulled over to the side of the road and got out."

"And what did you do when she got of the car?" asked Frank.

"I got out, too. I wanted to talk to her, ask what was going on between she and Mother... but she was so upset, so angry with me for following her. But I was upset too! And I demanded that she tell me what was going on with Mother.

"At first, all she would say is that I should leave her alone, that she had more important things on her mind, and she told me to go home and grow up!"

"How did that make you feel, Kelly?" asked Horatio.

"It made me angry!" Kelly admitted, her voice a little defiant. "Her exact words were, 'Go home to mama, little girl! I have more things to worry about than a spoiled little girl.' When I pressed her, she said, 'If you want to know about me and your mama, go ask her, little girl! But you may not like the answer you get!'"

Kelly looked at her mother and paused for a moment before continuing. "And then it all came together for me, Mother! I didn't need for her to explain what your relationship to her was - how could you do this to Da? To us?"

Confused, Jack O'Reilly interrupted, "Kelly, what are you talking about? I know Kate was friends with Maria; why are you so upset by that?"

Horatio was becoming increasingly concerned about the Mayor whose face had now become quite ashen. It was apparent that he was having difficulty accepting what was going on, but he was aware that his daughter was in serious trouble.

Kelly stared at O'Reilly and shook her head, surprised he was unable to grasp what she was saying. "Da, there was _more _than friendship going on. They were having an affair," she said tiredly to her astonished father. All the momentary anger had left Kelly, and now she was only feeling a great weariness.

Kate looked at her. "Kelly, there was no affair. Maria was pregnant; the baby's father already had a family. What you saw that night in the car was one friend comforting another. Oh, Kelly, what have you done?"

The news that Maria had been pregnant was a shock to the girl, who looked at her mother doubtfully. "Pregnant? That can't be! She admitted to me that you were involved when I confronted her. She admitted it to me!"

Turning toward Horatio, Kelly asked, "Is that true? Was she pregnant?"

"Yes," he replied grimly, "it's true. Did you hit Maria in anger when she told you she was involved with your mother?"

Brokenly, she replied, "Yes... yes… in that moment, I was so angry - angry with her and with Mother. I wanted to hurt Maria, hurt her for the way Mother had hurt me and Danny all those years with her indifference, and for the way they were both hurting Da now. Can you imagine what this would have done to Da's political future if this had come out? It would have ruined him! Do you think I'd let anyone hurt Da? In that moment, I was overcome with hatred for her and I backhanded her across the face. Lieutenant," she said earnestly, "I wanted to hurt her... I wanted to frighten her! …but I never meant to kill her...

"But she fell backward and I heard a sickening crack... her head had hit the road... hard. I kept calling to her, trying to rouse her... but she didn't answer...

"and... then... I knew she was gone."

Looking at Horatio imploringly, Kelly continued. "Lieutenant, I was so frightened! I didn't know what action to take! All I knew is that I had to leave before anyone saw me and then figure out what to do later. I ran back to my car... got in, and hit the gas pedal hard... but the car's speed caused me to veer into Maria where she was laying on the ground. I panicked and I backed the car up... and then drove away."

Looking around the room, her voice choked with emotion, Kelly repeated, "I never meant to kill her. I didn't think I had hit her that hard. It was an accident! Please believe me!"

Stricken by the lost, bewildered look on her daughter's face, Kate was seized with remorse. She began to realize how her years of self-absorption had damaged her daughter and in some way contributed to the events of that evening. She had never taken the time to see the emotionally hungry girl hidden behind Kelly's capable, happy facade. "Kelly, I'm so sorry!" She impulsively reached out to the girl and Kelly embraced her mother, holding on to her desperately, as if she were the port in a storm. "My poor girl," murmurred Kate, "please forgive me. I'm so sorry for it all."

Heavily, Horatio surveyed the broken family before him with sadness. He walked over to the Mayor and noted the clammy perspiration on his pale face as well as the distraught look in his eyes. "Mayor," he asked urgently, "are you in distress? Shall I call a doctor?"

Slowly, O'Reilly's haunted eyes met those of Horatio. "Caine," he whispered brokenly, "what is going to happen to my girl?"

"That will be up to the State's Attorney's office, Sir."

The Mayor swallowed back the painful lump in his throat and nodded, his eyes focusing again on the shattered girl in her mother's arms. His son put his arm about his father's shoulders and whispered in a choked voice, "We'll figure something out, Da. We'll work it out... somehow."

Gesturing to Frank to accompany him, Horatio left the room, deciding to give the family a few moments to themselves.

Standing outside the glass window of the interrogration room, Frank looked at Horatio grimly. "Guess we have our killer."

Horatio nodded, depression beginning to settle upon him like a heavy, too familiar cloak. "Yes, Frank, I'm afraid we do." He contemplated the sad scene going on behind the glass partition, not for the first time struck by the emotional damage that people do to one another.

"Ironic," commented Frank, also looking through the glass at the family.

Horatio glanced at him inquiringly, and Frank continued. "O'Reilly has always been a tough old s.o.b. Look at him in there... I can almost feel sorry for him. He looks totally whipped."

"It's his family, Frank," Horatio replied reflectively. "You know, Tolstoy once said 'Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' What we are seeing is a very unhappy family, experiencing its own unique pain."

Horatio lowered his head and tiredly rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the tension of the day's events taking residence there. "Families," he continued wearily, remembering his own unhappy past and that of so many others he had come into contact with over the years. "They can make you or break you, Frank. It makes me tired."

Frank nodded in understanding. Together, the two men continued standing silently, bearing witness to the wreckage of yet another family.

_To be continued._


	18. Chapter 18

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

It was 8:15 p.m., and Horatio was finishing up the report he was writing about the death of Maria Martinez. Completing the report, he signed it and slid the document inside the case folder, stamping it **SOLVED**. As he did so, Horatio found himself silently saying a prayer for Maria, a victim of the passion of others.

Sometimes, unbidden, his boyhood Catholicism rose up in Horatio, taking him by surprise; he had come to recognize that on those occasions when his childhood faith asserted itself, it was generally due to a feeling of hopelessness and vague stirrings of depression within him. Sighing, he pinched the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb, and closed his eyes. Why this case made him depressed, he couldn't say. Many were worse. But this case unsettled him.

He had no particular love for the Mayor but it was still difficult to see the broken man following his fractured family out the door. And... when Horatio thought of young Kelly O'Reilly and all the promise her future had held... well, it made him sad. And then there was Kate, reserved, remote, not a bad person, but one who should never have been a mother.

And... Maria, the victim in all of this. One beautiful, vulnerable, lonely girl... the catalyst for so much tragedy. She was like the center of a wheel from which spokes extended outward. Her presence in the Mayor's office, a situation that had begun with well-meaning intention, had wrought a devastating impact upon the lives of so many: the heartbroken Kate, the violently angry Kelly, the destruction of the Mayor, both emotionally and politically. _And who knows what impact the news of Chuck Thompson's infidelity is going to have on his family, on his pregnant wife? _Horatio reflected morosely.

His thoughts drifted again to the dead girl, and the terrible conversation he had been forced to have with Dolores Esteban. At the beginning of the investigation, Horatio had promised Dolores justice for her sister, determined that he would find out who killed the girl. And he had done so. But neither he nor Mrs. Esteban felt good about the conclusion of the case, the waste of Maria's life... the waste of Kelly's.

_There is more than one victim here,_ he thought despondently, _but that is so often true._

Horatio was tired of thinking about all of it. He stood up, put his jacket on and left the office. He wished Lauren would be home to greet him and take some of the sting out of his day. But Lauren was in Baltimore with her family... and his common sense told him that's where she really belonged at the moment.

Still, he was feeling so empty and sad. Watching the Mayor's ostensibly happy family break apart for all to see reminded him too much of the secrets his own family had tried to keep. Thinking about that, Horatio had a sudden flash of painful memory. Vividly, his mind's eye saw his mother patting heavy makeup around the discolored skin near her eyes, trying to fool the gossipy neighborhood women who heard the fights, who guessed what hid beneath the heavy foundation, and who watched in harsh judgment as his mother walked to the corner store for the groceries to cook the evening meal for her own fractured family.

Quickly shoving the memory aside, he thought again of Lauren. His heart longed for her gentle smile and her way of instilling hope and peace within him. Right now, his night promised him some tossing and turning, and some bad memories about his own past; had Lauren been with him, he could lay those always present demons aside for the night. She had a way of rousing him from the darkness, even if she did not always understand what caused it to descend upon him. He had so far evaded any real discussion of his unhappy past although he suspected Lauren intuitively grasped that it had been a difficult one.

Wearily, Horatio got into his car. Turning on the radio and cranking up the volume, he sought to out-distance the unhappy memories which seemed forever to beckon to him, and, as always, from around some unexpected corner he was never able to avoid.

XXXXX

Once inside the house, Horatio quickly prepared a simple dinner, grabbed a Stella Artois from the refrigerator, and took the small meal into his living room. Sitting on the sofa in front of the TV screen, he took a bite from his roast beef sandwich and grabbed the TV remote. Flicking it toward the screen, he was surprised to see that his case had made the national news on CNN.

O'Reilly had been viewed by the political community and by others in the news media as a powerful force and as one who was destined one day to play a commanding role on the national stage; the demise of such a figure was big news, and Anderson Cooper was poetically comparing his downfall to that of King Lear, and calling the story a cautionary tale of ambition and collapse. A series of photos of the Mayor's wife, son and daughter flashed across the screen, but the one that touched a sad chord within Horatio was the one of O'Reilly with his daughter when Kelly was perhaps 10 years old. They were smiling into one another's eyes... and, in the background, partially obscured by shadows, was Kate, looking on, not really seeing her husband or her daughter. _Ironic,_ thought Horatio, _how telling that photo is, for the remote Kate O'Reilly was never much more than a shadowy figure to her family._

Suddenly, Horatio's already capricious appetite left him, the case still leaving him feeling disquieted; hastily he changed TV stations, seeking distraction. Settling upon a sports channel, Horatio watched a bit of the Miami Marlins, only mildly interested.

His head hurt and his stomach was in turmoil, still he knew he should try to eat something. Just as Horatio was about to take another bite from his sandwich, his phone buzzed. Picking it up, he saw it was Lauren and his mood lightened.

Answering the phone with eagerness, he heard the voice he so missed and had desired to hear while sitting in the loneliness of his home.

"Horatio," she began sadly, "I heard what happened today to Kelly. Nick called and told me that Kelly confessed to responsibility for Maria's death. Poor Mrs. Esteban... I don't know what to say except that it breaks my heart."

Pushing aside the irritation that rose within him upon hearing that Nolan had contacted Lauren, Horatio replied feelingly, "Yes, it is sad. I called Mrs. Esteban once we had Kelly's confession. It was... a... difficult conversation. Poor woman. She blames herself for bringing Maria to work there."

"Oh no! How could she have known this would happen? Who could have predicted this?"

"I agree... but in such matters, family members often assume blame... it is their way of trying to make sense... out of the insensible."

Hesitating for a moment, Lauren went on. "Horatio, it appears Jack is going to have to resign. Nick says his chances at running for higher office are all but destroyed... and he is getting pressure to step down as Mayor. He is now viewed as a liability, and as lacking the connections and effectiveness to get anything done for the remainder of his term."

Remembering the defeated look on O'Reilly's face as he left the Crime Lab after Kelly's confession, Horatio wasn't surprised. The old Jack O'Reilly would have chewed his enemies up and spit them out. But the broken man who had walked past Horatio that afternoon would not be waging any new battles. O'Reilly had taken a fatal hit: knowing his daughter's future was in jeopardy had destroyed the fighting Mayor.

Lauren continued softly, "It looks like I am going to have to find a job."

Surprised, Horatio replied, "Is there no way you can stay on with the new administration?"

"It is doubtful they will want me, Horatio. They will want to put the scandal behind them... and they know when they send me out to deal with the media, it will always be a reminder that I was Jack's press secretary."

Sighing, she continued, "The best I can hope for is that they will allow me some time to find a new position before cutting me loose... but I am not too optimistic about that."

"We'll figure something out when you get back to Miami," he reassured her. "Concentrate on enjoying the few days with your family, and try not to dwell on any of this. There will be time enough to figure out your prospects when you return.

"I bet your family is happy to have you home for a visit," Horatio said softly.

"Yes, and if they had their way, they'd have me remain here," she admitted with some reluctance. "Pop can't see the necessity of my living so far away now that the opportunity that brought me to Miami is gone."

Horatio felt a growing sense of alarm at her words; it hadn't occurred to him that Lauren might entertain thoughts of leaving Miami now that her job was in jeopardy.

"Well, sweetheart," he said carefully, "how do you feel about that?"

Challenging him, Lauren asked quietly, "How would _YOU_ feel about that?"

Horatio reached for the beer in front of him and swallowed deeply, stalling for time as he thought hard about what the loss of Lauren might mean to him. He knew he loved her; and he recognized that her happiness and well-being had become as important to him as Kyle's. But more than that, when she wasn't with him, he felt her absence keenly, and knew she was the only person who was able to penetrate his defenses and help him keep the loneliness and sadness at bay.

"I think," he said finally, "that if you decided to leave Miami that... I would be... lost. I love you, Lauren."

The honest emotion in Horatio's voice touched Lauren and dissolved much of the fear and unhappiness that had weighed heavily upon her heart as a result of their previous quarrel.

"I love you, too... but we have some things to talk about... like what happened at my place between you and Nick... and between you and me," she replied seriously. "You frightened me that night... and you hurt me. We need to talk about this."

"I know, sweetheart, and I agree... but I don't want to do this over the phone, okay? When you come back to Miami... no, when you come _HOME _to Miami, we will clear this up, okay?"

A thousand miles away in her childhood bedroom, Lauren smiled sweetly as she heard the emphasis he placed on the word "home," for she knew in her heart that her home was where Horatio was, but it was important to her that he acknowledge that, too. Feeling happier than she had in several days, Lauren replied feelingly, "Yes, honey, we'll talk when I get home."

The End

* * *

><p>I want to thank all of you who read and, hopefully, enjoyed this story. I especially want to thank those who took the time to comment; I sincerely appreciate that you did so.<p>

I hope that those of you who enjoyed the story will be looking for a new story I hope to publish within the next few weeks. The title will be **THE BUSINESS OF SAVING SOULS**; contrary to the sound of the title, this will not be a story of the supernatural. It will continue the story of Horatio and Lauren, with a bit of a look at Horatio's past, a new crime to unravel, and also a look at Frank Tripp who, this time around, will be less of an ancillary character. He has a story to tell, as well.

Thanks again for reading! - Jasmine105


End file.
